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ICAN urges FG to stop multiple accounting bodies

By on March 28, 2015

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria has called on the Federal Government to stop the proliferation of accounting bodies in the country.

The President, ICAN, Mr. Chidi Ajaegbu, who stated this at a press conference announcing the 50th anniversary of the body in Lagos, noted several accounting associations without requisite technical expertise had been springing up in the last 10 years.

He said, “I wish to use this opportunity to harp on the need for the government to halt the trend towards the fragmentation of professional accountancy bodies in the country. In the last 10 years, many mushroom associations, without any legitimate claim to technical excellence and expertise, have been masquerading as accountancy bodies, fleecing innocent Nigerians of their hard earned income.

Ajaegbu said a bill on the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants had passed the second reading at the National Assembly.

According to him, the CIMA is not related to the well known CIMA in the United Kingdom, adding that with ICAN and the Association of National Accountants of Nigeria in existence, there is no aspect of accountancy that is not adequately covered. He said, “In our view, we cannot rationalise the creation of more accountancy associations on the altar of commercial expediency at the expense of the overall national interest and commitment to professional excellence.

“Accountancy is not a trade but a distinct professional calling with internationally accepted best practices. It must therefore be treated with the respect it deserves. If the profession is cheapened and opened to quacks, Nigeria and the economy will be the ultimate losers as the quality of financial reporting can only be as good as its preparers and those who attest to its reliability.

“The implications of poor and unreliable financial reporting are too grave to be ignored by any nation desirous of economic advancement and a place in the global market. We therefore urge the government and the National Assembly to resist the temptation of giving legitimacy to quackery in the name of satisfying some non-altruistic interests.”

The ICAN, the chartered accountant said, would continue to contribute to capacity building and support the government and the nation with its technical and managerial expertise.

“We will join hands with the government to build a better and stronger Nigeria,” he added.

According to Ajaegbu, in the last 50 years, ICAN has made enormous contributions to the economic growth and development of the nation.

Reeling out some of the achievements by the professional body in the last five decades, he said, “Pursuant to the Act that gave it the pioneering power to set standards and regulate the practice of accounting in Nigeria, ICAN has so far trained and certified over 39,000 chartered accountants who are variously engaged in the creation of values in all sectors of the economy.

“At the inception in 1965, it had only 250 members. A review of the manpower profiles of the various inland revenue services across the country, the Central Bank of Nigeria, federal and state ministries of finance, public corporations, all banks, insurance and listed companies, non-bank financial institutions, etc, will affirm that chartered accountants are at the commanding heights of the economy adding great value to wealth creation.”

 

[Punch]

2 Comments

  1. Djohndoe

    March 30, 2015 at 10:45 am

    Just for you information all accounting bodies in Canada are now completely integrated into one body. whether you are CA(Chatered Accountant), CIMA, CGA (Certified General Accountant) everyone has traded it in for one designation which is Certified Professional Accountant. it means there is now only one body in Canada going forward.

  2. John Udeaba

    April 14, 2018 at 6:39 am

    Well, judging from what you just said it simply means ICAN and ANAN are independent of each other which makes them totally incompetent. And if they should compliment each other then there’s no need regarding them as different bodies. You all have just a mere name differences. All accounting bodies should be integrated into one body to necessitate effectiveness and maximum performance and not into different units which only bring division not only among respective members of the bodies but also to the economy at large.

    I’ll end by saying that if you are competent enough as you ought to be then I don’t see reason(s) why the FG would be allowing more bodies into the profession.