Guardian

THE Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation has commenced payment of fuel subsidy claims to marketers, Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said.

Meanwhile, the Federal Government has shifted the implementation date of the International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAs) from this month to next year.

Okonjo-Iweala, who disclosed the commencement of the subsidy payment while briefing newsmen in Abuja on Tuesday, said the National Assembly had approved a supplementary budget of N161 billion to help clear the marketers’ subsidy claims for 2012.

“I was informed just before I came in here that the money is being credited to the account now as we speak.

“You know the conversion is being done and it’s being credited to the accounts, so, marketers have not able to access the fund should go now, today and take their money.

“It’s not something that takes a month but it’s normally less than a week, they are crediting the accounts now by the Accountant-General of the federation.” ·

She attributed the delay in the payment to the process of conversion of the money from a dollar crude account to domestic naira account. ·

“As at December 31st, the Ministry of Finance had approved for this money to be available in the central bank accounts where they can be accessed by the marketers once they have presented their papers and their sovereign debt notes had been issued.

“I understand what is being done at this moment is that that money is being converted from dollars - because it is out of our crude oil earnings - into naira

``And that takes a few days, so a few technical issues are being done but it’s being done now the conversion and the money is available.”

According to her, 23 oil marketers had so far finished their paper work for a total claim of N94 billion.

She said the amount had been approved and paid to them, adding that others were expected to complete their paper work to enable them access their monies.

On the 2013 budget, the minister said: “We are waiting for the full budget; so, I have no comment on the budget until we get the full budget from the National Assembly and that is about all I am going to say.”

The Secretary, Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC), sub-committee on the roadmap for the adoption of IPSAS, James Nongo, confirmed the decision to postpone IPSAa implementation date to next year in Abuja yesterday.

Nongo explained that the sub-committee recommended the extension because ``it was not feasible’’ for the country to adopt the cash-basis for IPSAS by January 2013.

He said the committee also recommended that the take-off date for the accrual basis for IPSAS be extended from 2015 to 2016.

``We still need to do a lot of capacity building because this is a new system that requires a lot of training for accountants, budget officers and operators in all the three tiers of government.

Nongo said a new module for IPSAS implementation had already been prepared and completed and would be distributed to the three tiers of government after FAAC approval during the week.

He pointed out that contrary to wide held views, Nigeria might not require an immediate amendment of existing laws to ensure compliance with IPSAS.

``Based on our investigation, the Financing Reporting Act and Fiscal Responsibility Act, 2007 have given us enough cover to implement IPSAS.

``We may not require a new legislation but if there are reasons to amend the existing laws, that will be done but we are still studying the laws,’’ Nongo said.

The secretary of the FACC sub-committee said that operators involved in public financial management in the federal, states and local governments would undergo general training for the next three months.

He said the training scheduled to begin on January 21 would hold in the six geo- political zones of the country.

In July 2010, the Federal Executive Council (FEC) approved that Nigeria should adopt the provisions of the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and IPSAS for both the public and private sectors.

According to the FAAC sub-committee, the adoption of IPSAS will create a uniform accounts system for the three tiers.

It will also promote accountability, transparency in governance and improve the credibility rating of Nigeria.