The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) has said that traditional rulers are essential to the anticorruption fight in the country.
ICAN is one of the corporate entities that have been in the vanguard of promoting accountability and transparency in the management of public funds in Nigeria.
Speaking during a recent courtesy visit to the paramount ruler of Emohua, Sergeant Chidi Awuse, in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, ICAN President, Dr. Innocent Okwuosa, stated traditional rulers could collaborate with the government to promote accountability and transparency in the management of public funds.
Okwuosa said, “We argue that it will be difficult to ensure accountability and transparency in the management of public funds in Nigeria without the buy-in of traditional rulers. Traditional rulers are the custodians of grassroots accountability. Grassroots accountability has been ingrained in African culture and tradition before the arrival of the British.”
“By ensuring grassroots accountability, traditional rulers are best suited to fight corruption in Nigeria if supported by government. This is because those in government first come from communities where the people’s culture is the order of the day.”
Okwuosa, who presented a plaque to the traditional ruler in recognition of his immense contributions to the institute, requested that the monarch use his good office to support the state in conjunction with ICAN to embrace the best practices in public finance management as the state ranked “among the lowest percentile among the 36 states of the federation.”
Okwuosa also congratulated the traditional ruler on his appointment as the chancellor of the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology.
ICAN opposed the hike in electricity tariff last year, claiming it coincided with the removal of fuel subsidy and exchange rate harmonisation, which led to a devaluation of local currency.