Ignore Baseless Petition Against Accountant-General, Group Tells Finance Minister, Others

A Civil Society Organization, under the auspices of Pro-Impact Initiative has raised the alarm over what it termed, “ Calculated attempts by few sit-tight Directors to blackmail the Accountant-General of the Federation , Mrs Oluwatoyin Sakirat Madein.

Saying,the attempt can derail her from carrying out much needed reforms and cleansing in The Treasury House”.

The group pointed out that these few directors who were largely affected and displeased by the recent posting exercise which was with the noblest of intentions and in compliance with relevant civil service rules are hell-bent on seeing that the Accountant General of the Federation , Dr Oluwatoyin Sakirat Madein, is forced out of office to allow them continue calling the shots.

The Coordinator of the group, Dr Osamudiamen Isokpehi who briefed newsmen over the weekend in Abuja said: “Those few Directors behind these acts appeared not to understand the extent to which they have exposed their self-centeredness and shallow mindedness in the said petitions written against an Amazon of repute and personally distributed them to media organisations to destroy her hard-earned reputation.”

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The group pointed out that , “These self serving few directors who have apparently checked the books and found no case of fraud against her decided not to back down but continue their endless search for evidence and allegations to get her out of office.

“To start with, how can these directors accuse the accountant-General of not being qualified for the position because they claimed she came second during the rigorous interview and examination attended by multiple directors who applied and sat for the exam?

Dr Isokpehi explained that, “ The process of selecting the Accountant General of the Federation are; After a rigorous examination ,some names are shortlisted accordingly to their overall performance; The shortlisted names are forwarded to the president and Commander-in-Chief who reserves the right to select any candidate from the list.”

He asked further, “ Why is this examination issue coming up several months after? Why at a time after the Accountant General carried out a reformative posting exercise during which she moved “untouchable Directors of the Agency” who believed they are ‘Principalities and Powers’ in their offices ?”

“On allegations of age falsification against her by these “We will die here” directors , Mrs. Oluwatoyin Madein, has last week publicly dismissed it as false and a fabricated lie”

“Though not given the expected media attention it deserves, her brief response which was contained in a statement by the director of press in her Office ,Mr Bawa Mokwa, said the allegations did not come as a surprise because “the office of the AGF is a competitive position and often falls victim to unjustified attacks”.”

Dr Isokpehi pointed out that those who know Mrs Oluwatoyin Sakirat Madein, including the petitioners themselves, know she would be the last person to collect money from staff to post them to places they have genuine qualifications and competence to be.

He stressed that reports from across sections of the staff showed that, “ the Accountant General only gave those competent and ready to serve the opportunity to rise”.

He pointed out that the office of the Accountant General of the Federation On August 23rd, 2023, released new posting of directors of finance and accounts based on merit irrespective of ethnic, tribal or religious affiliations.

However, some directors who considered themselves “too big to be posted” decided to put up a fight. True to her determination, Dr Madein stood her ground by ensuring the “big” Directors comply with the directives ”.

He wondered why directors with backgrounds in finance and other other related professions would write petition accusing the accountant General of the federation of collecting bride to post accountants without producing any evidence such as financial transactions, pictorial or video evidence of collection or any other proof. In his words, “ They refused to state which directors or accountants allegedly induced the accountant General and how much they allegedly gave bribes . They only insisted she took bride and must be sacked and arrested. These directors have played God for too long”

He highlighted Some of the reforms currently being pursued by the Accountant General of the Federation to include: Bottom-up cash plan which ensures Improvement to capital budget execution by ensuring that respective agencies draw up their own cash requirements monthly as against the practice of just allocating funds to MDAs irrespective of their needs; Blocking revenue leakages by Setting up of strategic revenue management team to improve internally generated revenues (IGR). The team in turn sets up technical sub-committee who will be trained in data analytics and who can mine data of agencies not currently on GIFMIS directly from the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation. Such agencies include NCC, NNPC, NUPRC, FIRS, TETFUND, etc.

The Civil society group warned that “ a system in which people, particularly those at the top are unwilling to accept reforms or changes cannot work. How on earth can a set of rebellious and “Powerful” directors who ought to be working hand in hand with the Accountant General, lock themselves in an office and spent hours, if not days, writing , editing , vetting petition against a woman and thereafter go round key government offices to submit them? Which time do they now have to focus on the real work they are being paid to do”

Dr Isokpehi called on the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Mr Wale Edun to “disregard their frivolous petitions and focus his strength on the actualization of a vibrant economy, under the president Bola Tinubu renewed hope agenda. These characters, we believe are part of those who brought the nation to where it is today “

“Worried by the big reformative shock they received during the posting exercise they went all out to destroy a bold Amazon by also sending petitions to the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi; the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Folasade Yemi-Esan; and the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu. The question is, for what purpose?”

“From their pains over the internal posting exercise, one would not be wrong to conclude that before the coming onboard of Mrs Oluwatoyin Sakirat Madein as Accountant General of the Federation , these very few men are the ones who seat in their closets and choose accountants to be posted and where they are to be posted to. This must stop. One will not be wrong to conclude that they have promised many persons postings which did not materialize, hence their extreme anger and animosity”.

The Group called on the Directors to “Immediately withdraw their ill-conceived petition, tender an apology to the Accountant General and return to their offices to work for the overall good of country. The energy, connections , time and resources they are putting in to destroy the Accountant General will go a long way in improving the nation.