Forensic Auditors Bill: CIFIA berates ICAN, alleges conduct not in national interest - ITREALMS

ITREALMS:

THE Chartered Institute of Forensic and Investigative Auditors of Nigeria (CIFIA), has berated the Institute Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) for casting aspersions on the passages of Forensic and Investigative Auditors of Nigeria (FIAN) bill, alleging that ICAN conduct negates national interest, reports ITRealms.

Reacting to ICAN criticisms, Protem President of CIFIA, Mrs Victoria Enape, described the move as unfortunate development, arguing that the publications of the press briefings granted by ICAN boss was to malign reputations of some persons and discredit the institute.

ITRealms recalls that the FIAN Bill was jointly sponsored by the Senate Majority Leader, Senator Ahmed Lawan from Yobe North and Senator Andy Uba from Anambra State.

ICAN, ITRealms reports, had during a press briefing on July 13 agitated that establishing CIFIA as an institute through an Act would amount to duplication of duties, positing the institute is already carrying out the functions meant for Accountants.

In a rejoinder made available to ITRealms in Abuja, Enape said the claims were baseless, wondering why Nigeria is still relying heavily on expatriate forensic and investigative auditors if the claims were true.

She explained that the bill is aimed at addressing shortcomings in the war against corruption with regards to forensic auditors’ examinations, stressing that the whole world had gone digital and now fraudsters engage digital technologies in perpetrating fraud which has made traditional auditing inadequate.

"Our attention was drawn to the press briefing, which was carried out by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) on Friday 13th July, 2018 on the passage of the Chartered Institute of Forensic and Investigative Auditors of Nigeria Bill by the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, on 5th July, 2018.

"Ordinarily, we would have ignored the baseless issues raised in the press briefings but for the sake of the public who are being misled by this unfortunate development and posterity, we are inclined to offer some clarifications so that the whole world would discern between the truth and a deliberate effort to thwart the noble course that is beyond an individual or personal and parochial interests," she said.

She stated categorically that ICAN issuing forensic accounting certificate amounts to illegality because there is no forensic in the Act establishing ICAN Act.

Enape further stressed that the insinuation in some quarters that the proposed CIFIA would bring some financial burden on the public funds is untrue because the institute is self-sustaining.

She noted, “ICAN is the oldest professional body in Nigeria, so it is expected that it should be behaving like a spoilt brat that is opposed to any idea of new child by his parents.

"ICAN has acquired the reputation of opposing every professional body in Nigeria that has to do with financial management in Nigeria. ICAN opposed the creation of ANAN, CLTN, and several others, losing all legal battles.

"So, we must discountenance the antics of ICAN and support the bill, because of its noble objectives and potential impact.”

She explained that CIFIA would save Nigerian government the cost of inviting foreign forensic auditors for fraud investigation as it were.

CIFIA boss said to some large extent it takes only Nigerian forensic auditors who know the terrain to be able to track or investigate fraud successfully in Nigeria, saying that it is therefore important to patronise made in Nigeria to grow Nigeria.

“One major advantage that this body would bring to our anti-corruption fight and crusade is that, it will not only partner with relevant government agencies, but will also help to train their agents and staff through to certification on the use of science and technology of forensic and investigative audit skills for auditing of financial statement and put in place some advanced mechanisms to prevent frauds in their various organisations to avoid reacting to fraud issues after such had taken place which has not yield results in our country over the years," said.

Uboshe Uboshe/GEE

ITREALMS ... everything news digitally!

Brian Cute resigns from Public Interest Registry

ITREALMS:

Remember him, Mr. Brian Cute has formally resigned as President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Public Interest Registry (PIR), reports ITRealms.

Public Interest Registry, ITRealms gathered, is the foremost nonprofit operator of the .org domain, and has confirmed that Brian Cute has officially resigned from his seven-year post as president and CEO, effective May 7, 2018.

ITRealms also gathered that during his time as president and CEO, Cute helped advance Public Interest Registry’s mission through the headwinds of today’s complex and diversified online marketplace. Public Interest Registry appreciates the leadership Cute has shown the organization and the many contributions he made during his tenure. Public Interest Registry wishes him great success in his future endeavours.

The Board of Directors of Reston, Virginia, USA-based PIR, ITRealms reports would soon commence a recruitment process to fill the CEO position.

In the interim, Jay Daley would be serving as CEO, and knows the registry industry extraordinarily well, having served in various leadership roles within the industry since 2002. Daley is a recent addition to the Public Interest Registry Board and has indicated to the Board that he will continue in that role after the interim period. He will not be pursuing the full-time CEO position.

Chair of Public Interest Registry’s Board of Directors, Roberto Gaetano, Roberto Gaetano, said they remain steadfast in their mission.

“Public Interest Registry has enabled countless noncommercial organizations across the globe to utilize the internet’s enormous potential to make the world a better place. And we’ll continue to do our part and provide them with tools they need to advance their initiatives online,” said Roberto Gaetano, Chair of Public Interest Registry’s Board of Directors,” Gaetano said.

PIR, founded by the Internet Society in 2002, is a nonprofit organization that operates the .org top-level domain; the world’s third-largest ‘generic’ top-level domain with more than 10.4 million domain names registered worldwide – and the .ngo and .ong domains and OnGood community website. Public Interest Registry also operates four Internationalized Domain Names to support and encourage local language use of the internet.

Chuks Egbune/GEE

ITREALMS ... everything news digitally!

Closure of Abuja Airport, in whose interest?

Editorial@ITRealms:

A few weeks ago, the Minister of State for Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika, told Nigerians that the only international airport in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA), Abuja, will be closed for six weeks starting on March 8, 2017 for a supposed “total repairs on the runway.”

The closure, he said, would allow Julius Berger to carry out total re-construction on the badly damaged airport runway, explaining that though the runway would still be put to use under the six months of rehabilitation, but the six weeks would allow the midsection of the runway to be reconstructed.

As said by him, President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the reconstruction through the emergency procurement procedure for work to commence; attributing the urgency to the centrality, economy and the importance of Abuja to the general administration of the country.

DigitalSENSE Business News, gathered that the Federal Government could not afford to closure of Abuja airport for a long time as repairs had is ongoing at the runway in the last three months.

“From start to finish of the runway, it will take six months. However, we will be using the runway almost throughout the period except for about six weeks when the runway will be closed,” Sirika declosed, adding that the government accepted the design by the contractor, which entails that the runway will last for over 10 years on completion early next year.

During the closure, Sirika said, Abuja bound passengers from any part of the world will use Kaduna airport as alternative as arrangement had been concluded with Kaduna State to convey the passengers to Abuja, whilst the state government will provide security.

On the Bilateral Aviation Safety Agreement (BASA) with other countries, Sirika noted government had signed BASA with 18 countries that Nigerians frequently visits and do business with, which avails Nigeria to operate air services with 18 countries.

Although initially, the National Assembly through the Senate rejected the proposal, but a few weeks later seems to have backed down without a choice,
Whereas the lawmakers seemingly bowed to pressure, they expressed reservations for the proposed diversion of flights from Abuja to Kaduna, they urged FG to put every advice into consideration, especially security.

Meanwhile, the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) and the contractor, Messrs Julius Berger Nigeria Limited, were reportedly divided over the total closure of the airport during the rehabilitation work. Even as NSE called for a segmented repair model to allow landing and take-off on the runway, Julius Berger stated that it would be dangerous to work on the runway while it was in use.

The lawmakers had summoned stakeholders to a public hearing including the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi; the Minister of State for Aviation, Hadi Sirika; the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola; the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Mohammed Bello; Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadiq Abubakar; and heads of aviation agencies, in addition to the Nigeria Police Force.

Outside the government, stakeholders had expressed concern over the financial and security implications of the temporary relocation to the Kaduna airport at a time the country is in economic recession, insisting that the issue is not technical but managerial. According to NSE President, Mr. Otis Anyaeji, stated that the society was against the total closure of the Abuja airport, adding that the repair work could be modified to allow flights.

He argued that the society held a meeting with the relevant agencies penultimate Monday; the outcome of the meeting confirms that it is possible to carry out the proposed reconstruction without shutting down the airport, insisting that the state of the runway presently required that it should be constructed right away.

Nonetheless Julius Berger, via its Managing Director, Wolfgang Goetsch, dismissed the NSE’s recommendations as dangerous and unrealistic, insisting that the runway should be shut down for safety reasons. Explaining, “A runway can be repaired without closing, but it depends on the scale of the repair. If there is only ups damage, then, it can be repaired in a localised manner; that means it can be shut down in the night, a spot can be repaired and in the morning it can be temporarily given edge for usage. But not with the state of the runway here in Abuja with the extent of damage and deterioration, just as Julius Berger guarantees the repairs will be completed within the stipulated six weeks.

However, the foreign airlines were concerned about the perimeter fence at the Kaduna airport, the size of its apron, whether it would accommodate a considerable number of aircraft, and if airline officials were going to be involved in the screening of passengers.

Other concerns raised by the carriers, according to the minister, are issues bordering on catering services at the Kaduna airport; how to tackle vehicular breakdown at the facility; inadequate number of boarding gates; and how to track the luggage of passengers should there be issues of missing belongings. In addition to how the various agencies of government that would function during the six-week closure of the Abuja airport would be managed.

FG further assured that all concerns are being tackled and will continue to meet with stakeholders to further handle all other concerns as we work towards using the Kaduna airport during the six-week period, as Sirika asserted “95 per cent of these concerns have been addressed and I can assure them that refueling of aircraft will not be a problem.’’

While commending the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) for concluding plans to set up security outposts and deploy its personnel along the Abuja-Kaduna road following proposed closure of the Abuja Airport. Yet, there is a big line between pronouncement and actual implementation.

Although for some political analysts, the relocation of Abuja Airport could pass as part of the rumoured islamisation of the country, hence, it offers an opportunity for the ruling party to stockpile arms for 2019 general elections, especially in the wake of the killings of over 800 Christians in the Southern Kaduna. Other school of thoughts and government have dismissed these claims, saying its all the imagination of political opponents and jobbers. Still, another school of thought said these claims can only sway when justice is brought against those Southern Kaduna killings before the closure.

What is still unbelievable is that for the runway to become badly damaged as claimed by the FG and Julius Bergers, means a lot to discerning eyes, including why should the runway, the only one at that, be left to deteriorate to a state of being described as “badly damaged” when there is an annual vote for such infrastructure. Does this mean there was no maintenance carried out, at least in the past 12 months. If yes, how did it and if not why not? Why should the Economic Financial Fraud Commission (EFFC) not be invited to x-ray this matter.

Until then, Nigeria remains at cross-road over this airport closure.

 

ITREALMS ... everything news digitally!

We’ll use our votes to protect our interest, says Anambra People in Lagos

DigitalSENSE Business News:

Anambrarians resident in Lagos under the aegis of the Anambra United Assembly of Nigeria (AUAN), have unequivocally stated that they will use their votes to vote in any political party or candidate that has the interest of their people at heart, DigitalSENSE Business News reports.

The group made this known at a press conference held at Uruagu Hall, Orile, in Lagos on Thursday, insisting that Anambra people are the biggest investors in the economies of Nigeria and Lagos in particular, and statistically constitute about 65 per cent of Ndigbo in Lagos.

Also, AUAN noted that they own so much that huge part of the corporate, personal, business revenue taxes collected are from their operations in Lagos State. 

The group equally stated that any political office seekers that do not specifically consult with them to protect their interest have not bargained well and may lose their votes in the elections nationally or at state level, even as AUAN admitted that up till now none of the political gladiators have consulted with it to know what the group wants done or rectify in the next dispensation toward protecting their group interest as residents in Lagos State, particularly. 

AUAN President, Barrister Emeka C. Nwosu, accompanied by the National Secretary, Barrister Okwu Udoagwu, Director of Finance, Chief Mike Okwuma, Comrade Chinedu Agina, Director of Operations; and Matron Adaora Umenduka (Eze Nwanyi), told newsmen that support for the candidates will be based on first come first serve, urging Anambra people to make sure that they collect their Permanent Voters Card (PVC) while advising the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to be fair in the distribution of the permanent voters’ card.

The group further admonished Lagos State government to curtail henceforth the excesses of its organs that descend on Ndigbo that are doing legitimate businesses in Lagos and fraudulently exerting huge sums of cash from them in the name of carrying out official functions.

On political offices exclusively reserved for Ndigbo and massive infrastructure denial wherever Ndigbo locates their businesses, Barr. Nwosu pointed out that these will form part of the deciding factor in casting vote. 

“It is the person that will address these issues that will get our support” he declared.

Nwosu, who was also joined at the press conference by Mrs. Victoria Ezechukwu, Matron; Mrs. Kosy Udechukwu, Woman Cordinator, commended President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration for signing the N10billion for the take-off of the second Niger bridge, stressing, however on essence of rail lines from Lagos to the Eastern part of the country.

Cyriacus Nnaji/GEE       

 

ITREALMS ... delivering news for development