President, Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria, Davidson Alaribe, speaks to JOHNSON IDOWU, on how to use the judiciary to tackle corruption, among other issues
Do you think public finance and the annual budget meet legal standards, especially in terms of financial management?
Our problem has not been the issue of policies or rules but the implementation of these policies. Nigeria has rules and policies. The constitution is there that outlines the functions of the state, federal, and local governments. The constitution stipulates what should go into the federation account, what a state should get, what the local government should get, and what goes into the consolidated account.
Local government is meant to be autonomous, get its finances directly, and should be assessed based on its performance. The role of the Auditor General is also stated in the constitution. All these are there but the problem is the implementation.
Some people will be in government and will not let people who are to do this job do it the way it is expected. We have had issues where auditor generals were removed because they advised their bosses against doing certain things. But does society stand up for them?
There are rules, but we are saying they should implement them. Nigeria has enough professionals. In the accounting world, Nigeria is fully represented in different accountancy bodies across the globe. The government has its financial regulations and public service rules, but the problem has been the implementation issue.
Several people come into government with good intentions but when they get into government, they start stealing. This is not peculiar to Nigeria alone but the difference between Nigeria and other clime is that we steal too much. The rules of public finance management are there but the issue is who are those calling the shots?
What are you doing to curb unethical practices among your members, particularly those in the public service who may be an accessory to corruption?
ICAN has a disciplinary process and an investigating panel. The investigating panel has been broken down into six panels because of the membership growth. If you feel any ICAN member has infringed on any ethical issue, you can write to the institute through the registrar, but you have to go to court to swear to an oath which your petition can come through.
When you swear to an oath detailing those issues, it will come to the registrar who will send it to the legal department where it will be assigned to any of the six panels. The case will be investigated, and the person will also be asked to come with his lawyer. Before, we allowed individuals to defend themselves, but the system has changed now that both the accuser and the accused will come with their lawyers so that no one will be knocked out with legal technicalities.
The investigating panels can also be a mediating panel to resolve issues among the disputing parties without going to the tribunal. But if there are issues that involve our members getting caught in fraud, there is nothing like a plea bargain in such circumstances. The issue will get to the tribunal where the full weight of the law will be applied, but you have to petition ICAN through an affidavit to avoid any person lying against another.
Beyond the petition, if we get a report of any misconduct by our member, we will write to the member to come and explain himself. We also ensure that there must be a fair hearing as enshrined in the Nigerian Constitution. There are past presidents of ICAN who have committed ethical issues, and they were sanctioned, including an accountant general.
The society is also involved in fraud; it is not only ICAN members. If you look at the fraud triangle, it goes in many ways. At the airports, you see people demanding settlements and bribes to get things done and when you go to other countries, things are not like that.
The corruption is rooted in schools, offices, and many areas of our lives. The problem is our orientation which now glorifies wealth without recourse for how such wealth is acquired. The language of money is what we now understand. We need to start teaching the younger ones about the need for uprightness.
What can Nigeria do to address the high-profile corruption it is faced with?
It is an issue of policies and implementation. Our judicial system regarding punishment for fraud and corruption is very loose. What I need to do is to steal several billions of naira and use a tiny fraction of the money to defend myself. If we change that system and set up a special court for fraud, nobody will be involved in fraud again.
In China, if you are caught in corruption, you will be killed, and we are advocating that. Even if we can consider the death sentence for corrupt persons and we agree that they should be jailed for life, let it be through another court and not the regular courts where they use technicalities to strike out issues.
Corruption cases in Nigeria only reign for the trial week and as soon as the person is granted bail, he goes back to the community to get chieftaincy title and becomes celebrated and that is the end. We have seen many cases of past governors and public office holders who are being charged, and the cases are still on for the past five, six, or seven years.
There should be a kind of special court to try fraud cases and the punishment, if it is not death by firing squad, should be life in jail. Those cases should not last more than three years.
If we continue with the practice of everyone going to the same court, and that same week we waited and the charged person is granted bail, it is over. Nothing happens again. It is our system. It is not that people do not steal in other climes but what they steal is very small because they know that if they are caught up with the law, they will be punished. But a Nigerian will steal the larger sum and use it to fight the society. If we can change the narrative to allow for a special court to try corrupt persons, things will change.
Above all, prevention is better than cure. Nigerians and all stakeholders should take up the responsibility of educating people that a good name is better than silver and gold.
What is your perspective about the multiple charges imposed on customers by Nigerian banks and are the banks doing enough to grow wealth?
There are banking rules and there are policies that guide bank operations. If you’re being unjustly debited, you should report. The issue is that some people often see daily debits in their accounts, but they will not report the matter. Some people will want to do some transactions which they do not understand, and some will want to obtain a loan, but they will not ask about the interest element.
Someone called me some time ago and spoke about the loan he obtained, and that the interest had tripled the amount. I asked if she did not read all the terms. She said she read it, and I asked why she entered. People should learn to articulate these things and when it gets to us, we advise the CBN. However, they should also let their auditors know if it is for a business.
I run an audit firm and one of our clients whom we did an audit for; we looked at all these debits and others and we realised that the charges were not normal. When we wrote, the bank reversed almost all of the debits. So, Nigerians should also speak out.
But, as I said, people unknowingly enter into what they don’t understand. Don’t go and obtain a loan without knowing the basic elements. What are the hidden and unknown charges? We look at the interesting elements to understand the ones that are known and unknown.
If anyone has any issues, the Central Bank has a customer service centre where you can report to. You can also go to the Consumer Protection Commission to report. Somebody recently reported that an airline increased its flight tickets, and they summoned the airline. They were able to explain the reason for increasing their tickets.
ICAN is not a supervisory body, but we can say these are complaints we got from the public, and we can tell the CBN to see how it can be solved, or the person can rightly go to the CBN consumer unit. Most importantly, people should examine the agreement they are entering into because once you sign, you have voluntarily consented to the agreement. All these issues can be handled if there is a complaint.
Also, ICAN has a disciplinary process which includes the Accountant Disciplinary Tribunal which has the status of a High Court. Any case adjudicated there can only go to the Court of Appeal, but we only deal with civil cases and cases involving ethics among our members.
What are your thoughts on the tax reform bills?
On the issue of tax reform, ICAN has set up a think tank to look at it and examine it. In the next few days, we will issue a position paper.
Do you think one year tenure is enough for ICAN presidents to make a significant change?
The succession plan in ICAN is the best. The ICAN Act was signed on September 1, 1965, and the Act provides that the president of ICAN will rule for one year and it has worked. As a president, you’re not executing a personal programme, but you’re standing on the shoulders of past presidents.
The programmes have been consistent in that order. The ICAN presidency comprised five presidents; the president, the vice president, the first deputy, the second deputy, and the immediate past president. The registrar is their secretary which makes up the Executive Committee of Council.
So, whatever they want to implement, they will think through it and digest it before sending it to the council, and if approved by the council, it becomes a programme of the institute. Whoever executes it during his tenure does not make it his programme.
ICAN leadership is like a relay race where the baton is passed from one person to another. The only demand is that as a new president, you must run faster than whoever hands the baton to you, even if it is two steps faster. That is the process, and we have not had any issue.