International Public Sector Accounting Standard and Democratic Governance in Nigeria

Abstract

This study was embarked on to evaluate the effect of adoption and implementation of International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) on corruption reduction, enhancement of accountability and transparency in the democratic governments in the South-East region of Nigeria. In the explanatory research design, we adopted both descriptive and inferential statistics to answer the four research questions. Primary data was generated from a sample of 2000 respondents selected across the five states of the region using multiple sampling techniques. Results from descriptive statistics and logistic regression analysis model show that the states and local governments in the South-East Nigeria have adopted and implemented IPSAS to a high level of over 75%. Also results show that, while the odd ratios are high for implementation of IPSAS in the areas of reducing corrupting and enhancing accountability, the implementation has not made significant effect on the variables. This is because the implementation of IPSAS remain opaque and continuously diminishes citizen’s trust on public institutions. The study concluded that any increase in concerted and deliberate effort in implementation of IPSAS will yield a positive result in building the citizen trust in public sector financial management. Hence, the study recommended among other things, that the government should embark on serious investment in capacity building and training of public sector employees (IPSAS implementer) to certify that they have good understanding and can efficiently run with the new standards. Such investment must be targeted on development of technical skills related to new accounting systems and a broader understanding of the principles and benefits of IPSAS.