Kwara State Government has expressed readiness for full adoption of the International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) for its public sector, towards ensuring transparency in the system.

The State Commissioner for Finance, Mr. Demola Banu, stated this in Ilorin at the recent sensitisation programme on Nigeria's adoption of the IPSAS, organised by the office of the Accountant General in the state.

He said good governance was not limited to political activities alone but should also manifest on how government handles its finances.

According to him, "IPSAS are sets of high quality, independently developed standards by the International Public Sector Accounting Board (IPSAB) for use in the public sector and no country worth its salt in the comity of nations can afford to toy with the concept of international best practices of which IPSA is a major component".

The commissioner, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Mr. Rauf Ayinla, said career civil servants could not afford to disappoint the populace, considering the huge fund invested in the capacity building of both the public office holders and career civil servants.

He said the programme was organised to consider issues and challenges involved in adopting the standards in Nigeria, adding that professional accountants, administrators, politicians etc must work hard to imbibe the tenets of the standards, which, he said, were in tandem with the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2007.

The commissioner, who said various levels of governments were expected to convert from the present format of reporting to the IPSAS by 2013, added that Kwara state was one of the leading states of the federation, adequately prepared for full adoption of the global standard, particularly with the response of Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed to the request by the organisers of the sensitisation programme.

He stressed that, "Kwara state government has demonstrated enough faith in this programme by the sponsorship of local/international training it has given to its top management staff in Account Department to attend various workshop/seminar since the advent of the programme".

Banu noted that, "We are all aware that the world is undergoing rapid changes. Our response to global demands needs to move at the same pace. We need to move with the changing demands of our environment in order to remain relevant in the scheme of things".