Lagos State Government has partnered with the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants to build the capacity of civil servants in finance.
The three-day workshop with the theme “Increasing Capacity for Public Financial Management and Sustainability” started Monday in Lagos.
In his keynote address, the Head of Service of Lagos State, Mr Bode Agoro, said, the workshop was designed to provide a platform for extensive dialogue, knowledge sharing and continuous promotion of international best practices in both the public and private sectors in Lagos State.
He said the theme was very appropriate at this crucial time when the government’s efforts were geared towards revamping the economy.
He added that a government could only fulfil its mandate of service delivery to the public when its finances are properly managed.
He commended the efforts of the Lagos State Treasury Office in upholding international best practices in its operations and strategically managing the finances of the state in the face of a scarcity of resources.
Also, the Accountant General of Lagos State, Mr Abiodun Muritala, said, that over the last few years, the Lagos State Government and ACCA have been partnering to boost the capacity of civil servants in the state.
He added that the workshop was to upskill the state’s workforce through ACCA’s research-based insights.
According to Muritala, capacity-building programmes such as this are vital for this value-added profession.
On his part, ACCA’s Country Head, Mr Tom Isibor, said, ACCA’s purpose was to be a force for public good.
“What that means is that we support governments, ministries, and agencies to be able to deliver various services to citizens.
“For them to be able to do that, civil servants must be properly equipped, and we just wanted to support the government of Lagos State in its task of achieving its objectives.
“We want to increase our capacity for public financial management and sustainability because we have discovered that to access funds in the future and to be able to meet UN SDGs goals, we must be on the map for public financial management and sustainability,” he stated.
More so, a business leader and facilitator of the workshop, Mrs Alero Onosode, said, “At the end of the day, what the participants are hoping for in terms of capacity building is that they have the knowledge and the skills to be better than they were when they came in.”
She noted that the participants were expected to work as world-class professionals in the course of delivering their jobs.