The United States Agency for International Development, USAID, in collaboration with the Adamawa State Government, has trained 40 civil servants from the state on Internal Control Manual and Self-Assessment Tools to establish a robust internal control environment that will enhance governance, compliance, risk management, and operational efficiency.
The participants were drawn from the Fiscal Responsibility Commission, State House of Assembly, Office of the Auditor General, Auditor General for Local Governments, Office of the Accountant General, Head of Civil Service, and auditors from Priority Sector MDAs, such as Education, Health and Water, sanitation and health, WASH.
The intervention by USAID’s State Accountability, Transparency, and Effectiveness, State2State, in Adamawa is supporting and training state partners in Adamawa State to develop an internal control manual and an internal control self-assessment tool and how to use the self-assessment tool for continuous improvement.
The target is to improve the overall efficiency and effectiveness of partner states’ government financial operations and to build the capacity of government officials and employees in understanding and implementing effective GESI-responsive internal controls and mainstream conflict sensitivity into internal control and how it can contribute to mitigating conflict.
It is expected that the participants will, at the end of the training held in Gombe, be able to develop the assessment to evaluate operational efficiency and effectiveness, establish a mechanism that will facilitate continuous improvement with government entities instituted, as well as improve compliance with extant Public Financial Management Laws of the state and improve the skill of staff of Internal audit Department and account officers of priority MDAs in internal control procedures.
The Adamawa State Team Lead of State2State, Ms. Suzanne Myada, told participants that by developing the manual, Adamawa had been placed among the few states in Nigeria with an internal control manual, which would in turn stir auditors and other state officials work more efficiently in auditing, introducing and using the internal control manual.
Overall, Ms. Myada said the training was expected to promote accountability, transparency and effectiveness in Adamawa MDAs.
“A very important issue I want to emphasize is the need for you to take ownership of the reform. State2State is an activity and we are going to go, we are going to leave, but you are the ones that will remain, the MDAs will remain. So, it’s very important you take ownership of this process and ensure its sustainability,” Ms. Myada said.
She said without internal control, no matter how good the system and process were, an organization would become vulnerable to fraud and abuse.
A retired Director of Audit at the office of the Auditor General of the Federation, Mr Ismail Adeleye, a Consultant with the USAID, said the need for the training followed a finding in a survey to know the areas of needs of the State2State supporting states and it discovered that there was no internal control manual to direct the conduct of workers in the state.
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He said State2State supported states in reviewing their financial instruction and developing the manual, which would help the workers know what to do, how to do it, and when to do it.
According to Mr. Adeleye, when controls are not in place, the organization is at risk of fraud, saying, “One of the problems of the risk of fraud is when the controls are not in place or when the controls are in place, but the controls are not followed. This is what we call opportunity for fraud.”
He also said when people follow the internal control procedures, laid down either at the MDA level or at the state level, once people follow them, we expect that it will help improve the incidence of fraud.
Overall, he said without the control manual, it’s like speed without control leads, which leads to accidents.
He urged workers not to relent in doing what is right, irrespective of whether others do the right thing or not.
“So, the way internal control works is that the government sets up the control in many ways, the laws. The PFM Laws, whether we call it Public Procurement Law, Fiscal Responsibility Law, Public Finance, Control and Management, all these laws are in place to delimitate the financial responsibilities, and financial roles of every public official. Secondly, all these PFM documents and laws spell out the expectations of public officials. Why we keep having problems is that people tend to bypass, boycott, or disregard these controls,” said Mr. Adeleye.
He, however, identified management override of controls as a major problem of internal control in most organizations, thereby allowing fraud and fraudulent activities in an MDA.
Participants in a recent training program are expected to apply their newly acquired knowledge to improve compliance with state Public Finance Management (PFM) laws and promote a culture of continuous improvement within their organizations.
Mr. Isa Mustapha, Director of Treasury at the Office of the State Accountant General, described the training as timely and impactful. It has led to the development of a comprehensive manual outlining the processes, rules, and procedures necessary to achieve individual organizational objectives.
“Prior to the creation of this manual, we lacked a structured framework. We were primarily guided by existing laws, which differ from procedures. While laws define the functions of an organization, a manual is essential for outlining the steps to effectively execute those functions. This training has significantly enhanced our understanding of the rules and how they apply to our objectives,” Mr. Mustapha explained.
Another participant, Mr. Daniel Sakiyo, Assistant Director of Government Accounts at the Office of the Adamawa State Auditor General, noted that the training aims to harmonize procedures for achieving the set objectives of Adamawa State and its Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs).
“By developing this manual, the MDAs will be better positioned to meet their organizational goals. We have learned about internal control mechanisms and procedures that will help prevent leakages, ensuring cost-effectiveness. Ultimately, this will benefit Adamawa State as a whole,” Mr. Sakiyo stated.
The training is expected to be stepped down in the MDAs in Adamawa State.
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