GIFMIS The Nigerian Experience E. B. Jarumi fsi

GIFMIS is the government integrated financial management system It is an IT based system for budget management and accounting being adopted as part of a wider Public Service Reform Strategy by the federal government of Nigeria starting in the early 2000s It is meant to improve the public expenditure management process, enhance accountability and transparency across MDAs It helps the government to plan and use its financial resources more effectively and efficiently.

Looking back to pre- GIFMIS era Systems of planning, budgeting, monitoring and control of public resources significantly deteriorated High rate of corruption in budget implementation through manual payment Poor cash management- multiple bank accounts within treasury and MDAs No guarantees that resources would be used for their intended purposes Attempts to remedy the abuses through table payment, pay-parade, operation show your ID, audit queries etc. by previous government, failed- hence the introduction of GIFMIS.

pre- GIFMIS era Cont’D The Federal Government with support of Developing partners like the World Bank began to pursue series of fiscal and public financial management reforms. These efforts culminated in the enactment of : The Fiscal Responsibility Act (2007); The Public Procurement Act (2007) and The Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria Act (2011), among others.

Objectives of GIFMIS in Nigeria’s Accounting System To enable federal government take central control and monitoring expenditure and receipts in MDAs Increases the ability to access information on financial and operational performance- ICT approach Increases internal control to prevent and detect potential and actual fraud from MDAs and other parastatals Increases the ability to access information on government’s cash positions and economic performances that were hitherto difficult through manual cash management Improve medium term planning through MTEF Increases the ability to demonstrate accountability and transparency to the public, especially the legislature and other stakeholders

GIFMIS value and budget evaluation E- Payment product of GIFMIS has enhanced accountability and transparency of service delivery Roll out of the Treasury Single Account (TSA) which is now being implemented in about 217 Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), which is about 60% of the MDAs of the Federal Government of Nigeria. Eliminates delays in effective payments for transactions settlement of financial obligations Plugs leakages associated with previous payment systems through cheques and cash GIFMIS has been deployed to Budget preparation starting with the 2014 Budget Budgets now based on more realistic forecasts of cash available Ensure remittance in taxes government treasury Reducing the challenge of Cash Management i.e multiple accounts within Treasury and MDAs that make effective control impossible. Hitherto, this problem when combined with the lack of cash forecasting leads to inefficient and unplanned borrowing. Makes for better budget tracking by the Executive and Oversight of the Legislature

operationalizing GIFMIS in Nigeria: THE Challenges Poor understanding of the purpose of GIFMIS- dichotomy between Executive and Legislature. The National Assembly yet to embrace GIFMIS Issues of Fiscal Federalism that limits the ability of the Federal Government to cash of public financial management practices in the States and local governments, which are responsible for a substantial part of public expenditure Reluctance to change by beneficiaries of the old order of manual and analogue systems of public financial management Weak ICT and power infrastructure essential to a seamless and painless transition to GIFMIS Poor sensitization and publicity

Recommendations for effective GIFMIS operation More synergy is required between implementation working groups such as AGF, D.G budget office CBN and the National Assembly on the efficient implementation of GIFMIS All remaining constitutional and legal hurdles, especially as it relates to the interactions between the Executive and the Legislature over the Budget, as well as issues of fiscal federalism, currently in the way of a universal and credible implementation of GIFMIS to be removed swiftly Continued public sensitization on the imperatives of GIFMIS