By Kadiri Abdulrahman

The Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (OAGF) on Wednesday, engaged Federal Government accounting officers on new modalities to transit from the 2024 budget to that of 2025.

The briefing was at a stakeholders’ engagement with chief executives of Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) on the implementation of the 2025 capital budget and related issues.

The Accountant-General of the Federation (AGF), Mr Shamseldeen Ogunjimi, said that the Federal Government initiated the implementation of a cash management and bottom-up cash planning policy for the execution of the 2025 Capital Budget.

Ogunjimi said that this was to provide a set of rules and general guidelines for the conduct of government agencies for the planning and management of cash resources for effective service delivery.

According to him, efficient and proven cash management was at the centre of any meaningful development, particularly in a developing economy like ours.

“The policy is deployed to provide strategies for cash flow planning and management, such that inflows are realised, and there is value for money in public expenditure.

“It is also to ensure that payment to the end-beneficiaries is immediately guaranteed and issued,” he said

He said that in the course of implementing the policy, it was observed that some MDAs awarded contracts based on budgetary provisions without recourse to external laws and regulations.

The AGF said that there was a high propensity to award new contracts rather than completing ongoing critical projects, and transferring funds to vendors’ accounts even before the contracts are executed.

He said that there was a prevalence of non-realisation of targeted revenue, and in some instances, failure to remit revenue generated to the treasury.

“This government will not fold its hands to watch institutions and individuals saddled with real responsibility deliberately disregard extant laws and regulations in the award and execution of capital budget.

“It is now time for all of our stakeholders to rise up and ensure that relevant provisions of Public Procurement Act 2007, Fiscal Responsibility Act 2007 and other regulations are fully complied with,” he said.

He urged the accounting officers of the respective MDAs to ensure compliance with policy directives to mitigate some of the lapses that necessitated the revision of the initial framework.

“Henceforth, warrants will be issued to MDAs prior to legal commitment to serve as evidence of funds available for the award of contracts or processing of payments for ongoing and completed projects.

“For the avoidance of doubt, you have to ensure that no letter of award is issued or contract signed unless the corresponding warrant has been duly released.

“It is, therefore, a call for you all, to prudently manage the limited resources that will be allocated to your MDA, as well as optimise revenue realisation,” he said.

Mr Wale Edun, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, said that the idea was to ensure that government spent what it had earned.

Edun said the bottom-up policy by the Federal Government was to make the system of payments more rigorous, more transparent and more accountable.

According to him, payment will go straight from government to the person that had provided services to government.

“In implementation of that policy, the rules and regulations are there. There are timeless,” he said.

The Director of Funds, OAGF, Mr Steve Ehikhamenor, said that pursuant to extension of 2024 capital budget into 2025, all 2024 financial commitments of the MDAs were transferred to 2025.

Ehikhamenor said that the total amount of capital transferred from 2024 (N10.5 trillion) was automatically added to the 2025 capital budget.

“This led to an increase in funding requirement for the capital budget implementation,” he said. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

Benson Ezugwu/Isaac Aregbesola