Permanent Secretary/Auditor-General, Office of the Auditor General for Local Government, Adesumbo Abolarin, has urged Auditors in the public service to improve their knowledge attain international compliance levels in the discharge of their duties.

Abolarin, who gave the charge in her address at the commencement of a three-day training on International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) Accrual, in conjunction with ADRAC Professional Services, held at NECA House, CBD, Ikeja, stated that the participants were very lucky and opportune to participate in the training despite the pandemic.

She said, “To whom much is given, much is expected. If any officer is going to represent the office, they need to upgrade their skills. At the end of the training, an examination would be conducted by the Association of Certified Chartered Accountants (ACCA) United Kingdom. Any participant who passes the prescribed examination would be issued a certificate that is internationally acceptable”.

The Permanent Secretary urged participants to take advantage of the training and the opportunity for certification, pointing out that the exercise was designed for officers on Grade Levels 08 to 14 in the office of the Auditor-General for Local Governments.

Earlier, the Director of Planning, Research and Development, Rev. McEwen Lamai (FCA), stated that the training is part of the year 2020 capacity building training programmes for staff, noting that the Office is saddled with the responsibility of conducting human capacity development projects.

“This training session is a high-value technical training to be moderated by members of ICAN. I urge participants to pay more attention to the training session, be punctual and do not be distracted. The training would be rounded up by ACCA certification and your performance at the examination would be proof of attendance”, Lamai stated.

On his part, the CEO ADRAC Professional Services, Dr. Deji Awobotu (FCA) appreciated the Permanent Secretary/Auditor-General for Local Governments, for the opportunity to collaborate with the Office on capacity building for staff.

He maintained that Auditors should have requisite experience in the finance profession in terms of preparing and appraising financial statements, hence the need for the capacity training for auditors to enable them guide Council Treasurers in preparing documents for submission to the Auditor-General for Local Governments.

Awobotu said that the training will also aid compliance with International Public Sector Accounting Standard (IPSAS).