Madein takes over from Okolieaboh
…Former AGFs call on FG to confirm Okolieaboh as substantive AGF
The new Accountant General of the Federation (AGF) Dr. Oluwatoyin Sakirat Madein has formally taken over the mantle of office from her predecessor, Sylva Okolieaboh.
However she has sounded a note of warning that she will not condone corruption as AGF.
She made this known at the handing over ceremony in Abuja on Friday. Before taking over from Okolieaboh, Madein said “the Treasury has suffered some turmoil in the recent past and the Treasury will move from strength to strength”.
She was referring to the series of corruption allegations that have embroiled the Treasury two AGFs before Okolieaboh.
Madein told staff of the Treasury that, “we should be guided by zero tolerance to corruption and be dedicated to service and how to generate revenue for the federal government”.
The new AGF said she will pay serious attention to training, staff welfare and capacity building as well as “strive to fully digitize Treasury activities especially the Integrated Payroll and Personnel information system (IPPIS) and Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS)”.
According to her, “our operations will be in conformity with extant laws and regulations so that when next they talk about Treasury House it will be for good”.
In their goodwill messages, former Accountants General of the Federation (AGFs) Kayode Naiyeju and Ibrahim Dankwambo called on the federal government to make Okolieaboh a substantive AGF.
Naiyeju and Dankwambo argued that there has been a precedence set in the Treasury, where a former AGF (A.B Ogunsanya) was in the same situation as Okolieaboh.
The both asked staff of the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF) to rally round the immediate past AGF and demand that he be confirmed as a substantive AGF.
Former Gombe state governor and also a former Accountant General of the Federation, Mr. Ibrahim Hassan Danwkambo told the new AGF that she has her work cut out for her.
According to Dankwambo, “there is work for you”! He urged the new AGF and staff of the Treasury to canvass for Okolieaboh to be confirmed as a substantive AGF.
Sylva Okolieaboh was appointed Acting AGF in June, 2022. He acted for 11 months. He is due to leave the service of the federation on Sunday 28th May, 2023 when he will be 60 years old.
Another issue both Dankwambo and Naiyeju canvassed for was the systematic stripping of the Treasury of its entities.
They lamented that there have been sustained maneuvers from outside to strip the Treasury of its units.
Already the Pension Transition Arrangement Directorate (PTAD) and the Ministry of Finance Incorporated (MoFI) have been removed from the Treasury.
Both former AGFs are worried that current attempts to take Integrated Payment and Personal Information System (IPPIS) and the Government Integrated Financial Management System (GIFMIS) might also be taken away from the Treasury House.
Earlier, the immediate past AGF Sylva Okolieaboh said that for the 11 months he acted as AGF, “I worked without any iota of certainty about when my tenure will be over. As a result, I have seen every single day of the past 365 days as my last day in office.
“While that mindset makes it easy to cope with the uncertainty; it was very costly for the office. An institution of this magnitude should not be run on day-by-day basis.
Okolieaboh said he and team “kept the office running and recorded some landmark achievements.
“We intervened in the resolution of the protracted ASUU strike; swiftly concluded the 2020 general purpose financial statements; rolled out Bottom-up cash management policy; reined in the abuses of IPPIS; rolled out the TSA for foreign missions.
They also “instituted the Treasury Staff Posting policy to make posting more transparent and equitable; and the Treasury Management Portal to replace the Remita payment platform is at its testing stage.
