The implementation of Nigeria’s Bottom-Up Cash policy may have heralded a paradigm shift in public finance management, particularly within Ministries, Departments, and Agencies .The bottom-up cash policy, a stopgap measure introduced last year to enhance fiscal discipline in government circle, is eliciting mixed reactions.
According to her, the overriding objective of cash management was to ensure that the government was able to fund its expenditures promptly and meet its obligations as they fell due. The main goal of the Bottom-Up Cash policy, according to Maidin, is to enhance budget execution and control by ensuring that funds are released in line with the approved budget and financial plan. The policy facilitates timely and efficient implementation of projects and programmes by disbursing funds directly to implementing agencies, she said.
The suspended Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Dr Betta Edu, reportedly bypassed some of the processes spelt out by the policy and sent the request for the N585 million directly to the AGoF. She also allegedly violated the requirement for the approved funds to be paid to the requesting MDA before being expended on the projects they are meant for.
She believes that the scandal has raised the prospect of not only recovering huge sums of allegedly stolen public funds but also blocking further financial leakages. It also brings to the fore the importance of putting in place and meticulously implementing financial control policies in MDAs. “Our public officers make their own rules. They do not feel bound by the once-sacred public document called financial instructions that provides guidelines for public expenditures. When they are left with money, sometimes they do not see themselves as guardians of our common treasury with the duty to protect what has been entrusted to them. But this procedure takes a lot of time and many checks and balances before cash drops. That is the game-changer.
A financial analyst with the Socioeconomic Research and Development Centre, Victor Idajili, said the implementation of the bottom-up cash policy needs to be supported to assist in cutting down leakages. According to him, Nigerian financial laws are adequate to deal with issues of corruption, but the operators of the laws are the problem.
As Nigeria navigates economic challenges and strives for fiscal stability, the Bottom-Up Cash policy stands as a beacon of hope, signalling a renewed commitment to transparency, accountability, and good governance in public finance management.Before flagging, please keep in mind that Disqus does not moderate communities. Your username will be shown to the moderator, so you should only flag this comment for one of the reasons listed above.
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Source: GuardianNigeria - 🏆 1. / 94 Read more »