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Buhari must tackle corruption to rebuild economy – ICAN

By BusinessNews Staff on June 5, 2015

The President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration must tackle corruption urgently if it hopes to make meaningful progress that will impact on the lives of ordinary Nigerians on time, the newly-elected President, Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria, Mr. Samuel Deru, has said.

He said the process of rebuilding the economy must start with plugging age-long leakages in the oil sector and other key sectors of the economy.

Deru stated these during his inaugural speech and investiture as the new President of the professional association.

Accountants and other key players in the economy, he said, must join hands with the new government to implement key economic reforms that would change the lives of the people.

The new ICAN president said, “These are challenging times in the affairs of our nation, when all men of goodwill including accounting professionals must stand up and be counted in the arduous task of rebuilding the fabrics of the nation.

“Accordingly, we must take the bull by the horn as a nation by taking those hard decisions that will positively impact the welfare of the citizens.

“The first natural place to start is the oil sector. Rent-seeking activities and sharp practices must be tackled frontally by the new administration. Perceived or imaginary subsidies which have been a source of huge leakages in the system must be removed forthwith. Such corrupt and sharp practices must be eliminated if Nigeria is to survive and make meaningful progress as a nation.”

Deru advised the new government to diversify the economy and promised that the institute would support it with the requisite professional knowledge and skills to fight corruption, money laundering and terrorism financing.

“Indeed, as the conscience of the nation, we will be at the forefront of the crusade to curb sharp practices and proactively raise the bar of accountability and transparency in governance,” he said

“The cleansing process, for us, will start with our profession; thus, any member who breaches any provision of our ethical code will be dealt with according to the institute’s enabling Act,” he added.

Ogun State Governor, Mr. Ibikunle Amosu, urged the new ICAN president to promote professionalism and discipline in the institute, adding that accountants must rise to the challenge of nation building.

The outgoing ICAN President, Mr. Chidi Ajaegbu, described the standard of living of Nigerians as “unacceptable.”

He said, “We must admit with uncanny frankness that the standard of living of the average Nigerian is low, unacceptable and indeed, calls for concern. For the business community, the story is not better. The cost of doing business remains prohibitive in the face of insecurity of lives and properties, thus making our environment uncompetitive.”

Ajaegbu, who hinted that he was leaving a better ICAN than he met, listed some of his achievements during the one-year tenure.

“The citizen’s declining standard of living or rising misery index, in my view, is reversible. I dare say, we can do it as a nation if pretentions to service by those in leadership positions give way to purposeful leadership at all levels of governance.”

[Punch]

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