The Accountant-General of the Federation, Mr. Ahmed Idris yesterday, made history as the first Nigerian in the recent time to be appointed as the Accountant-General of the Federation for two terms in office.
This followed a letter signed by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr. Boss Mustapha, conveying the approval of President Muhammadu Buhari for the re-appointment of Mr. Ahmed Idris, for the second and final tenure of four years as the Accountant –General of the Federation.
According to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr. Idris’ re-appointment is “in accordance with Section 171 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended), and will take effect from June 25th 2019.”
It will be recalled that Mr. Ahmed Idris was first appointed on June 25th 2015 and he has been instrumental to the successful turn-around in the nation’s public finance machinery.
Unarguably, Mr. Idris re-appointment may not be unconnected to his successful implementation of a number of far-reaching reforms in the Public Finance Management (PFM). Under his watch, the Nigerian Public Finance Management arena has undergone quite a number of reform initiatives; such as the Treasury Single Account, (TSA) which has garnered national and international acclaim; the Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System (IPPIS) which has saved the nation billions of naira as well as cut down on ghost workers syndrome; the International Public Sector Accounting Standard (IPSAS) which saw Nigeria transiting from Cash Basis reporting to Accrual Basis; the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS) a centralized platform for Government Budgeting and Expenditure; the Assets Tracking Management Project (ATMP); the on-going transformation of the Federal Treasury Academy as a world-class training institution, and a host of others.
Mr. Ahmed Idris, is a Chartered Accountant and a fellow of the Association of National Accountants of Nigeria (ANAN) and the first member of the Association to be so appointed as the Accountant-General of the Federation. He is also member of other professional bodies such as Fellow Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria, Certified Institute of Cost Management of Nigeria and Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, Member, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Board of Directors, Member, Presidential Technical Committee on National Minimum Wage, Pro-tem Council Member of Chartered Institute of Forensic And Investigative Auditors of Nigeria (CIFIAN), Member, Committee on Utilization of Treasury Single Account (TSA) for receipts of all revenues of Federal Government, Member, Inter-Agency Committee on the Recovery of Portfolio loans of the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON). The AGF is also a Member, Board of the Royal Swaziland Sugar Corporation (RSSC); Member, International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board, Consultative Advisory Group (IPSASB CAG) and a host of others.
Mr. Ahmed Idris is a 1984 BSc Accounting graduate of Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Zaria, a Masters of Business Administration (MBA) holder from Bayero University Kano as well as a Master of International Affairs and Diplomacy (MIAD) holder from ABU Zaria.
He had also attended local and foreign courses including Revenue Generation and Accountability for Local Governments organised by Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN). On the international front, Idris, has attended the World Bank Disbursement Seminar, Reston, Virginia USA; IPSAS Course, Manchester Business School, United Kingdom, among several others.
Mr. Ahmed Idris is married with Children, and has his hobbies as reading, academic discussion and excursion.
Henshaw Ogubike
Deputy Director and Head Press and Public Relations (OAGF)
June 21st 2019.
