ADOPTION OF INTERNATIONAL PUBLIC SECTOR ACCOUNTING STANDARDS ON FINANCIAL REPORTING QUALITY IN NIGERIA PUBLIC SECTOR

Abstract

This study examined the Adoption of International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) on financial reporting quality in Nigerian Public Sector (Case Study of The Office of The Accountant General of Ekiti State. The objectives of this study are determining the impact of adoption of IPSAS on the Level of Accountability and Transparency in the Public Sector of Nigeria and to ascertain the contribution of adoption of IPSAS in enhancing comparability and international best practices. Primary source of data was employed to generate the data of interest. Research questionnaire was designed, which was made of hypothetic questions of the research work. Interview questions were formulated and tested for validity before dispatching to the chosen sample populace of 45 staffs of the Office of The Accountant General of Ekiti State. The statistical tool employed was the Chi-square test. From the findings of the study, it was observed that adoption of IPSAS is expected to increase the level of accountability and transparency in public sector of Nigeria. It was found that the adoption of IPSAS will enhance comparability and international best practices. Also, it was denoted that adoption of IPSAS based standards will provide more meaningful information for decision makers and improve the quality of the financial reporting system in Nigeria. Hence, the researcher concluded that the adoption of IPSAS in Nigeria is expected to impact operating procedures, reporting practices thereby strengthening good governance and relations with the government and the governed. One of the most researched and least understood variables in public sector accounting of the nation is how the accountability and stewardship of financial controls are conducted. Based on these, the research report recommends among others that for accountability to be successfully entrenched in public offices in Nigeria, there must be a reduction in the level of corruption, improving public sector accounting and auditing standards, legislators taking positions as champions of accountability and total restructure of public accounts committees and monitored application of the value of money in the conduct of government business.