No room for margin of error (3)

It was Professor Paul Collier of Oxford University who first alerted us to the sheer scale of financial indiscipline (or leakages) in Nigeria.

According to him amounts traced to Nigerians in the diaspora were staggering. After allowing for legitimate transactions and personal savings, as much as £400 billion would appear to be questionable. Rather than accept Professor Collier’s postulations hook, line and sinker we should carry out our own investigation and interrogation before drawing conclusions. What is self-evident is that huge sums of money disappeared from our treasury into thin air only to resurface on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. The question that is begging for an answer is whether looting and brigandage of that scale could ever have been possible without the connivance of Chartered Accountants ?

For now, let us rely on giving ourselves the benefit of the doubt.

However, the challenge remains whether we can extend the same principle of benefit of the doubt when virtually all our leading newspapers and digital media (especially Resilience Television which belongs to retired partners of KPMG who are still awaiting their gratuity and pension) have gone to town with blazing headlines:

“EX-CUSTOMS BOSS ABDULLAHI DIKKO RETURNS N1.4 BILLION AS PART OF PLEA BARGAIN”

followed by : “FORMER ACCOUNTANT-GENERAL OF THE FEDERATION MR. JONAH OGUNNIYI OTUNLA RETURNS N6.8 BILLION NAIRA AS PART OF PLEA BARGAIN.”

One would have to read it twice to come to terms with the shocking revelation. The former boss of the Customs & Excise Department has since passed on. He did not take any of the money with him. The former Accountant-General of the Federation is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants. Hence, we must exercise restraint especially as it is being alleged on social media that the amounts traced to his bank accounts came to a staggering N15 billion !!

As for the humongous financial scandal at the National Social Insurance Trust Fund [NSITF] which is under the Ministry of Labour, some of our members were among those charged for theft, embezzlement and corruption. The Chairman, Ngozi Olejeme has absconded but properties and cash recovered so far are of the order of N48 billion !!

Let us remind ourselves that we started off with the challenge thrown by small firms of Chartered Accountants who are in despair over their plight. They are an endangered species and it is no exaggeration that they are in danger of being wiped out by poverty. How can they abide by the lofty ideals of our noble profession or adhere to the ethics and ethos commanded by professionalism when the few jobs in their portfolio are under threat from “cowboys” who are ever ready to pounce – absolutely no scruples.

Available data and statistics confirm that the small firms are paid a pittance as professional fees. Then comes the poison pill – the little they earn is vulnerable to being hijacked by more desperate professional colleagues who will readily accept appointment for a lower fee. It is a race to the bottom !!

Hordes of our professional colleagues are on the treadmill of merely surviving – day to day; – and living hand to mouth. Inevitably, they owe their staff salaries and allowances which are piling up by the day. It is a vicious circle.

These are desperate times and the qualification of the auditors’ report has become a moral hazard. If the intrepid auditor insists on qualifying his or her report, the client would deliver a lethal pre-emptive strike – the auditor would be removed. If care is not taken, he or she would soon be on the queue to the camp for IDP’s (Internally Displaced Persons) where life is short, brutal and the auditors’ report was shredded long ago. It is one thing to be a retired partner of KPMG still awaiting his gratuity and pension, it is something else to be jobless, homeless and hopeless while foraging for palliatives.

The grouse of the small firms is directed at the “Big Four” accountancy firms who are alleged to have cornered 90 per cent of the market – government jobs; companies quoted on the Nigerian Stock Exchange; Multinationals; Banks; Insurance companies; Telecommunication companies; World Bank projects; Bill & Bellinda Gates; Ford Foundation; African Development Bank; Afrexim Bank; International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD); United Nations, etc leaving only the crumbs for the small firms whose staff they poach at will – enticement disguised as capacity building !!

As if to rub salt into injury, whenever the mega assignments are advertised by the Nigerian Government or international donor agencies they insist that only those who have previous experience will be short-listed. Crickey !! If you are not given the chance as a first-timer how are you ever going to gain the “experience” ?? This is totally absurd.

Thankfully, Britain’s Business Scretary (Minister) 45-year-old Ghananian born KwasiKwarteng is championing reforms which will hopefully break the monopoly of the “Big Four” accountancy firms. In addition to the rotation of audits, he is canvassing for joint audits whereby the big firms would partner with small firms to carry out audits of companies listed on the FTSE 500.

In conclusion, it is up to us to seize the moment and revert to our traditional role as the conscience of the nation. Regardless of the hostility or indifference we face, we must not relent in our efforts to bend the ear of the government. Neither can we seek refuge my pleading extenuating or aggravating circumstances,

Otherwise, we would be perpetuating a false sense of complacency which would only earn us opprobrium from the discerning public who may well conclude that we are firmly in the same corner as their oppressors.

Hence, we have no choice but to uproot the bad apples amongst us so that the fresh harvest of abundant blessings may flourish.

With the approach of the next presidential election in 2023, we have been reminded that in 1993 it was a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria, Bashorun M.K.O. Abiola who emerged as the winner. There is no record anywhere that our Institute vigorously waded into the arena to enable him to claim his mandate. Alas, it was perhaps a case of subversive inertia. We did Jack.

As regards the forthcoming presidential elections in two years’ time, the soothsays, prophets, marabous, wizards and witches have reached a consensus – that next President of Nigeria is one of our Fellows!!

In order to make assurance we have double-checked with computer simulations, analytics, algorithms, Artificial Intelligence, and Deep Data. The prediction and conclusion are the same. There is no room for margin of error. What remains to be resolved is whether we would have learnt our lesson sufficiently to have the courage to insist on victory being delivered to the rightful winner. We have only two years to regain our swagger. In the meantime, the small firms of Chartered Accountants are grasping: “WE CANNOT BREATH.”

Extract of an address delivered on 26th April 2021 as Guest of Honour at the 19th Conferment of Fellowship by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria