Professional Documents
Culture Documents
SEPTEMBER, 2010
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1) Discuss the following:
a) The appointment
b) Loss of office/ Dismissal (Removal from office)
c) Remunerations
d) Functions of each of the following;
2) Compare and contrast the public sector accounting and the private sector accounting
SOLUTION TO QUESTION 1:
The Auditor General for the Federation: The Financial Regulation 102 described the auditor
general of the federation as the officer recognised by the constitution of the Federal republic of
Nigeria, 1979 as amended 1989 and 1999, and the audit ordinance of 1956 to audit the accounts
of all accounting officers and all persons entrusted with the collection, custody, receipts, issue or
payment of public money. He is given the free hand to examine the accounts in such a manner as
he may think fit. However, at the end of the audit, he is expected to write a report stating whether
i) The accounts show true and fair view of the state of affairs of the nation at any
v) Money is expended for the purpose for which they are meant
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A) The Appointment of the Auditor-General for the Federation
In line with section 86 (1) of the constitution of the Federal republic of Nigeria, 1979 as amended
1989 and 1999, the Auditor-General for the Federation shall be appointed by the President on the
recommendation of the Federal Civil Service Commission subject to confirmation by the Senate.
The power to appoint persons to act in the office of the Auditor-General shall vest in the
President.
Except with the sanction of a resolution of the Senate, no person shall act in the office of the
In line with section 87 (1) of the constitution of the Federal republic of Nigeria, 1979 as amended
1989 and 1999, a person holding the office of the Auditor-General for the Federation shall be
removed from office by the President acting on an address supported by two-thirds majority of
the Senate praying that he be so removed for inability to discharge the functions of his-office
(whether arising from infirmity of mind or body or any other cause) or for misconduct.
i. Ill- health;
ii. Insanity;
iii. Death;
iv. Gross misconduct but for the president to proof this he need the support of two-
third majority of the Senate
v. Where the terms of his office had expired.
The terms of office can expire if:
a. He had served for a maximum period of 35 years
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b. He attained the age of 60 years, whichever is earlier.
c. Where his tenure is not renewed.
d. Gross misconduct.
In line with section 84 (1); (2) and (3), there shall be paid to the Auditor General such
remuneration, salaries and allowances as may be prescribed by the National Assembly, but not
exceeding the amount as shall have been determined by the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation
The remuneration, salaries and allowances payable to the Auditor General shall be a charge upon
The remuneration and salaries payable and their conditions of service, other than allowances,
In line with section 85 (1) – (6) of the constitution of the Federal republic of Nigeria, 1979 as
amended 1989 and 1999 spelt out the statutory functions of the Auditor General for the
federation thus;
The public accounts of the Federation and of all offices and courts of the Federation shall be
audited and reported on to the Auditor-General who shall submit his reports to the National
Assembly; and for that purpose, the Auditor-General or any person authorised by him in that
behalf shall have access to all the books, records, returns and other documents relating to those
accounts.
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Furthermore, nothing in subsection (2) as stated above shall be construed as authorising the
corporations, commissions, authorities, agencies, including all persons and bodies established by
(i) a list of auditors qualified to be appointed by them as external auditors and from which the
The Auditor-General shall have power to conduct checks of all government statutory
corporations, commissions, authorities, agencies, including all persons and bodies established by
The Auditor-General shall, within ninety days of receipt of the Accountant-General's financial
statement, submit his reports under this section to each House of the National Assembly and each
House shall cause the reports to be considered by a committee of the House of the National
In the exercise of his functions under this Constitution, the Auditor-General shall not be subject
The Auditor general of the federation performs the following accounting functions;
1) Seeing that proper system of accounts as prescribed by the minister of finance are
maintained
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2) Exercise supervision over the receipts of public revenue and ensures its punctual
collection.
3) Ensures that there are adequate securities over the custody of public money
4) Ensures that there are adequate safeguards against the occurrence of frauds, embezzlement
and carelessness
5) Exercise supervision over all officers under his authority entrusted with the receipt,
6) Ensure that money are expended for the purpose for which they are meant for
8) Ensure that authorised maximum cash balance to be held are not exceeded
9) Report any defect in the procedure for collecting revenue which come to his notice
(a) Power of access to books and records of all Ministries and Extra- Ministerial
Departments at reasonable times.
(b) Power to request for information and explanation necessary for his duties.
(c) Power to carry out special investigation in any Ministry and Extra- Ministerial
Departments.
(d) Power to carry out Ad-hoc investigation in any Ministry or Extra-Ministerial Department.
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The Accountant General of the Federation
The Financial Regulation 101 described the Accountant General for the Federation as the Chief
Accounting Officer of the receipt and payment of the Federal Government, saddled with the
responsibility of general supervision of accounts of all ministries and departments within the
federation and prepares the annual financial statements of accounts of the nation as may be
required by the minister of finance. He or his representative shall have access at any reasonable
time to all documents and other records that are related to the accounts of every ministry or
department and he is entitled to obtain information necessary for the proper performance of his
duties.
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Fringe benefits include a pension scheme in consonance with the contributory pension
scheme and allowances as may be approved from time to time by the Federal
Government.
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xiii. Ensure that officers made good any minor deficiency not cause by theft or fraud in
the cash held by them.
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SOLUTION TO QUESTION 2
Public Sector accounting is an umbrella term which refers to the various accounting systems
used by various public sector entities while Private sector accounting also refer to the various
SIMILARITIES
1. Budgeting: The two sectors prepares budget for the purpose of resource
management and allocation.
2. Financial Statement: Government produces various financial statements of assets
and liabilities which is in line with the Balance Sheet in private sector.
3. Principle of Book-keeping: Both public sector accounting and private sector
accounting apply the principles of double entry.
4. Controlling / Auditing: both controls their expenditure and have their accounts
audited.
5. Profit as a measurement of efficiency: In some public sector organizations,
managers operate on broadly commercial lines. In other words, the success of the
organizations is measured to a large extent by the amount of profit the
organizations generate.
Obviously, the parastarals have objectives other than profit maximization.
6. Accounting cycle: Both public sector accounting and private sector accounting
recognize accounting cycle or organization time period concepts. The account
starts from recording transactions to preparing post balance sheet.
7. End Users: Both sectors prepare accounts for end users
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COMPARISON BETWEEN PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SECTOR ACCOUNTING
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Adams R.A. (2006), Public Sector Accounting and Finance. Revised .Edition 2.
Corporate Publishers Venture, Lagos
Gretschmann K. (1991): “Analysing the Public Sector: The Received View in Economics and
Shortcomings” chap. 3 in Kaufmann F. (ed.)(1991): “The Public sector – challenges for
coordination and learning”, de Gruyter, Germany.
Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN). (2006), Public sector Accounting,
Paper 14.
Lane, J.E (1995): “The Public sector”. Sage publications. (Focuses on changes within the field of
public administration - contains an overview of concepts, models and approaches of
public choice, new institutionalism and public administration – scale 5)
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