By John Odhe, YENAGOA
The Bayelsa State government in partnership with Afro Redflag White Collar Protective Shield Limited has ended a 3-day training for civil servants on financial prudence and fight against malfeasance in the system.
The theme of the programme was: Building Financial Integrity Through the Nigeria’s New Tax Reforms, Strategic Financial Management, Budget Accountability, Forensic Auditing and Anti-corruption Excellence.
Head of the training firm, Prof. Mannixs Paul, said the training targeted financial officers, internal and external auditors, budget and procurement officers, accounts, compliance officers and related professionals in the State civil service.
He noted that the training focused on the new tax laws and its implications on job, tax assessment, tax audit and presumptive tax regime regulations that were no longer operational.
On the importance of the training, the United States of America based forensic investigation expert said he was motivated to partner with the State government to see how the toga of corruption could be lifted off the shoulders of Nigeria’s public servants.
“It had very shameful to me to realise that whenever we go for conferences, they will say “Nigerians, the most corrupt people.”
“It made me very ashamed. So I started asking questions. What can we do to mitigate this risk? It’s a risk because it affects every individual and the image of the country.
“Whenever you hold your Green-White-Green Passport, they treat you differently. That’s why I felt that there’s need for us to do something about it.”
He said experts were brought to look at the new tax laws.
On the first day, we looked at the tax. On the second day, we made them to know that character is very important.
“As a result, we had to empower them on how they can promote governance in the place of work, have effective leadership and to know that there are things they can do to fight corruption because that is the greatest threat in our society.
Ibaba Ibaba, a Professor of Political Science and Peter Ayunku, a professor of Finance and Banking, both of whom were facilitators said the importance of retraining public servants could not be overstressed.
They said it was for the purpose of self fulfilment, capacity building, efficiency and effective contributions to their roles as civil servants.
The event also witnessed awards of excellence to deserving public servants including the deputy governor of Bayelsa State, Dr. Peter Akpe, the Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Abraham Ngobere amongst others.
Some of the trainees, while commending the state government and its partners for organising the training programme, promised to put to effective use all that they learnt.
