The Hon. Minister of Finance, Budget & National Planning Mrs. Zainab Shamsuna Ahmed was present at the Presidential Launch of the Federal Government Financial Transparency Policy, Open Treasury Portal at the ICC in Abuja on the 9th of December, 2019.
Represented by the Minister of State for Niger Delta, Sen. Donald Alasoadura, President Buhari noted that “the Transparency Policy approved by the Federal Executive Council requires that the Accountant General of the Federation (AGF) must publish a Daily Treasury Statement which will provide information about what came into the national purse and what went out every single day.”
In addition, the President said “my administration pledged to Nigerians that we will work towards changing the way we do business. We promised that we will improve revenue collection as well as spending through better systems.”
In her opening remark, the Minister, Ahmed said the policy was formulated in accordance with this administrations stand to fight corruption and also give confidence to the general public to hold government accountable.
The Minister expressed that the launch of the portal was another step by the Federal Government towards entrenching transparency and accountability in public finances. The portal will aid the Government in its fight against corruption through the availability of financial information to the general public, MDAs and civil society organisations.
She added that full implementation of the programme by all the MDAs is expected latest by the end of three months. “Nigerians should not only use the information provided by the portal to discuss governance but also use it to fight corruption”- Ahmed said.
The Open Treasury Portal is an initiative of the Office of the Accountant General of Nigeria.
