The Federal Government has observed lack of proper understanding of requirements for credible financial reporting in the nation’s public sector. The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Richard Adebayo disclosed this in Abuja at the opening session of a two day National Learning and Development Programme on Accounting and Financial Reporting in the Public Sector. Represented by his Technical Adviser, Kamar Bakrin, the Minister said Some public sector entities still use the Statement of Accounting Standards (SAS) issued by the defunct Nigerian Accounting Standards Board (NASB) as their reporting framework while others use a number of other formats which lack uniformity as such hinders credible financial reporting. The Executive Secretary, Financial Reporting Council, Shuaibu Ahmed said total of 115 Public Sector Entities have so far submitted their Annual Financial Statements to the Council. The FRC boss who expressed dismay over infractions in the public sector’s financial statements said government entities that are yet to filed their audited financial statements will be severely sanctioned in line with the provisions of the FRC Act and its extant rules . He however noted that review of audited financial statements filed so far indicated that financial reporting in the public sector is bedeviled with challenges and issues to which the learning programme is designed to address. The next destination for the public sector enlightenment exercise is Kano and Lagos States.
