By Hassan Zaggi
The chairman of the Heads of Internal Auditors Forum, Dr Jackson Okpachui, has advocated for financial probity and accountability in public health institutions in order to maximize the lean resources in the country.
He made the call at the 2021 National Summit of the forum in Abuja, weekend.
The summit was well attended by the chief internal auditors and head of Audit departments in federal tertiary health institutions in Nigeria.
The aim of the summit, he said, was to fosters and build mutual working relationship between auditors and Chief Executive Officers.
Dr Okpachui argued that if public and private institutions in the country embrace financial probity and accountability, the human and material resources available will be utilized for the growth and development of the economy.
He, therefore, charged the Forum to maintain the ethics and standards of the profession which, according to him, has been invaded by quacks.
Dr. Okpachui, however, advised all chief executives of organisations to engage in the training and retraining of Auditors in order to keep them abreast of global and forensic techniques needed to carry out their auditing jobs in the current highly competitive business environment.
He also called on Auditors in the country to take their role of financial advisers to chief executives professionally so as to change the present perception of perceiving auditors as witch-hunt dogs to Chief Executive Officers (CEO).
This, according to him, will promote mutual working relationship that would enhance productivity and efficiency in the country.
He charged his professional colleagues to reexamine themselves and ensure they live above board so as to earn the respect of chief executives, contractors and staff of their organisations.
He cautioned them to desist them from indulging in unwholesome practices, stressing that auditing is all about prudency in expenditure and not connivance to perpetrate fraud.
Speaking, the Registrar of Medical Laboratory Science Council of Nigeria, Dr Tosan Erhabor, said the theme of this year’s summit ‘Internal Audit Department Guiding Organization to financial Probity and Accountability’ was quite appropriate as well as supportive to the various chief executive officers of Federal Tertiary Health Institutions. This, he noted, will help further drive the culture of financial probity and accountability in the appropriation of public funds, especially, in this face of dwindling national resources.
The Registrar commended them for their thoroughness, braveness and commitment to their duties as watch dogs to government agencies whose roles are to strengthen the fiscal policy of the government.
Dr. Tosan assured that the management of the Medical Laboratory Science Council of Nigeria was fully committed to ensuring that Nigerians get the best of laboratory tests results anywhere in the country as the council has put in place adequate national laboratory equipment calibration centers (NaLECC), at its headquarters.
