Babajide Komolafe
29 December 2008
Association of National Accountants of Nigeria (ANAN) has threatened to stop the proposed Financial Council Reporting Council (FRC) Bill from been passed into law.
ANAN president, Dr. Sam Nzekwe made this threat while speaking at the 5th annual corporate financial reporting summit of the Nigerian Accounting Standards Board (NASB).
According to him, the Association frustrated the signing of the bill into law by the former President Olusegun Obasanjo. "I was the one that prevailed on the former President not to sign the bill into law explaining that there were falsifications in some sections of the bill as passed by the then National Assembly. I am happy that the bill has been sent back to the National Assembly and the falsified sections corrected. Recently, I met with President Yar'Adua and told him that now that the FRC bill is completed he should sign it into law provided that there is no falsification in the final copy of the bill. And the President has asked me to write to him if I observe any falsification in the final copy of the bill."
Speaking further, Nzekwe stated that, "We should not be falsifying documents at this level of the country's development"
The FRC bill was recently passed by the House of representatives and it is designed to replace the Nigerian Accounting Standards Board (NASB) Act 2003. The aim of the bill is to revolutionise financial reporting in the country by standardising public sector accounting and bringing together different regulating bodies under a single entity to be known as the Financial Reporting Council (FRC). The FRC, when fully operational, would bring Nigeria in line with current global financial reporting and corporate governance as well as stave off the prospect of isolation by the European Union and other financial bodies who have made the adoption of the FRC a condition for doing business.
The FRC would have seven directorates- Directorate of Accounting Standards (Private Sector), Directorate of Accounting Standards (Public Sector), Directorate of Auditing Practices Standards, Directorate for Actuarial Standards, Directorate for Inspectorate and Monitoring, Directorate for Valuation Standards and the Directorate for Corporate Governance. Apart from issuing accounting standards, the FRC would also issue actuarial and valuation standards as well as code of corporate governance.
Briefing journalist recently on the FRC, Executive Secretary of the NASB, Mr Godson Nnadi, said, apart from bringing standardisation of financial reporting in the country to contemporary level, the FRC would eliminate the problem of conflicting financial reporting regulation brought about by multiplicity of regulators as all the regulators would be members of the FRC. He said the FRC would also give Nigerian auditors the latitude to practice in EU countries.
Oceanic Registrars Wins Quality Management Award
More laurels came the way of the Oceanic bank group when its subsidiary, the Oceanic Registrars Limited won the National Quality Share Registration Company of the Year 2008 award bestowed by The Quality Management Development Institute.
There wouldn't have been a better way to round off the year for the leading African Global bank which other subsidiaries like Oceanic Insurance, Oceanic Capital have also won awards in their respective sector.
The Oceanic Registrars, according to the Institute, won the National Quality Management award following its nomination from amongst other organizations recommended for consideration by the award selection committee.
Giving an insight into criteria used in selecting the nominees and how the Oceanic Registrars won the award, the Award Board Chairman, Dr. Olu Ige identified the deciding parameters as international best practices, operational excellence, quality products, quality and focus leadership, sound business ethics customer satisfaction and continuous learning, among others.
He explained that the National Quality Award is a yearly event established by the institute to appreciate individuals or organizations adjudged to be delivering quality products and services, throughout the federation.
"The essence of this award is to recognize products, services, individuals and organizations which have excelled when measured against the framework of excellence", he stated, adding that the institute ensured that only tested individuals supervised the award nominees' selection and strictly based on the criteria.
Dr. Ige argued that the nation could not compromise on the quality of products and services rendered by various bodies and organizations in the country, hence the critical roles of the institute.
He recalled the My Piking saga in which scores of children died after administering the teething mixture on them at various hospitals saying that such an incident should not be allowed to occur again, "but this can only be avoided through total quality management."
Commenting on the award, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Oceanic Bank International, Dr. Cecilia Ibru said the award as a result of the efforts of the management is to ensure that in whatever the bank or any of its subsidiaries do, the quality is not compromised noting that this account for the reason why the Oceanic bank and its subsidiaries have been leading players in their respective sector.
She pledged that the Oceanic bank group would not relent on its oars but would continue to bring innovations into its services through deployment of latest technology to meet the ever changing yearnings of the customers.
Dr. Ibru maintained "best of the group is yet to come, you aren't seen nothing yet, next year will be explosive, we will not rest on our oars and will ensure that our customers remain at the centre of our business."
It would be recalled that, just last week, the Oceanic bank was declared the Consumer brand of the year 2008 for its customer friendly disposition and good public standing, at the maiden prestigious Consumer Brands Awards (COBBRAA), organised by USP Brands.
Managing Director of the UPS Brands, Mr. Muyiwa Kayode explained that the award was keenly contested by leading brands in the country and that so many other big banks were nominated in the banking and finance industry.
According to him the strict voting process also saw other banks like UBA, GT Bank, First Bank, Intercontinental and Zenith emerging as nominees, but the consumers voted overwhelmingly for Oceanic Bank as their preferred bank.
He described the award as the real and authentic one as the end users of the services of the banks were given unfettered chance to choose who they bank with, a development he argued differentiate the awards from the numerous others.
"We made sure the consumers had exclusive right to determine who they preferred served their interest most", he stated.
Diamond Bank is set to reward a Nigerian with a whooping sum of N50 million in its SavingsXtra Promo. The winner which will emerge from a draw in early January 2009 will be the first person to win such a multi-million naira from a single promotional draw in the country.
According to a statement from the bank, arrangements are in top gear to doll out the sum in the draw tagged "The Big Win", adding that all that a customer needs to qualify for the draw is to have a balance of N10,000 in his Savings or DISA accounts between December 28, 2008, and January 10, 2009.
Meanwhile, KPMG - world renowned auditors - has vouched for the transparency of the draws process, assuring that every customer that qualifies is included in the draw.
Commenting during the December draws held at the bank's head office in Lagos recently, Mr. John Anyanwu, an IT Advisory officer of KPMG, affirmed that the draw was well organized, transparent and in line with the laid down criteria governing the exercise.
According to him, "customers who are eligible to partake in this draw were all part of this draw and we can assure everybody that all valid e-tickets had an equal chance of emerging as a winner."
The statement from the bank assured customers who qualify of having equal opportunity for the draw, reiterating that every additional N10,000 balance by each of the customers increases their chances of winning.
It further explained that Savingsxtra is Diamond Bank's strategy of giving back to the society through savings account customers who operate either a Diamond Integrated Savings Account (DISA) or a basic Diamond Savings Account.
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