Bagudu urges ICAN to avail self with Nigeria Agenda 2050 documents
By Hogan Bassey
The Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Sen. Atiku Bagudu, has urged the Institute of Chartered Accountant of Nigeria (ICAN) to avail itself with the documents of Nigeria Agenda 2050.
A statement by Chinem Pressley, Media Consultant to the minister, indicated that Bagudu gave the advice when ICAN officials paid him a courtesy call in Abuja.
The minister also urged the institute to align itself with the country’s national development plan so that provisions made could be included in training programmes and other activities of the institute for greater achievement.
Bagudu said the ministry had a clear mandate to cooperate with all groups to seek their help in interrogating what the ministry did so that it could do better.
According to him, one element of the mandate is a periodic assessment of the skills gap in the country; which to an extent, showed the relevance of ICAN, as the institute had the responsibility of ensuring that accountants possessed the required skills to practice in Nigeria.
He added that ICAN has a prominent role to play in supporting the government in terms of building consensus for greater mileage.
Earlier, the President of ICAN, Mr Innocent Okwuosa noted that the institute has consistently provided a professional viewpoint on various government economic policies and the prospects of such policies.
He also said that it was ready to work closely with the government to redefine national values, set economic priorities, and resource utilisation strategies with the aim of lifting Nigerians out of poverty.
Okwuosa drew the attention of the minister to the two initiatives of the institute that had impacted significantly, in shaping fiscal policy in Nigeria, namely: The ICAN Budget Symposium and the Mid-Year Economic Discourse.
He highlighted the significant impact of previous symposia and economic discourses, which have resulted in notable fiscal policy changes in the country.
The ICAN president explained that his delegation was at the ministry to appeal to the minister to declare their upcoming budget symposium open, and for him to appoint a contact person within the ministry to be the liaison officer on the budget symposium and economic discourse.
He added that the visit was to make the minister see reasons why its members should be considered for appointments into the boards of ministries, departments, and agencies under the ministry.
He said doing so would help the present administration deliver on its Renewed Hope Initiative.
The ICAN president expressed keen interest in entering into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the ministry to enable the institute to offer technical assistance to enhance the nation’s budgeting process.
He added that the visit was to extend an invitation to the minister to the 53rd Annual Accountant’s Conference with the theme, ‘Nigeria: Imparatives for Inclusive Development, which will be held from Oct. 9 to 13, 2023 in Abuja. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)
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(Edited by Emmanuel Yashim)
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