The purpose of introducing GIFMIS is to assist the Federal Government of Nigeria in improving the management, performance and outcomes of Public Financial Management (PFM).

It is one of the most common financial management reform practices, aimed at the promotion of efficiency, effectiveness, accountability, transparency, security of data management and comprehensive financial reporting.

GIFMIS vertical is looking after that part of PFMS dealing with payments, collection of receipts, accounting, and financial reporting. Following are the modules and functionalities used:

1. Payments - Expenditure Advance Transfer (EAT) module for Implementing Agencies, Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) for beneficiaries.

2. Tax Receipts - Direct Tax Receipts comprises of Income Tax and Custom Tax paid by individuals this is accomplished through the PRAKALP application module. Indirect Tax receipts comprise of Accounting and Reconciliation. This is accomplished through the ARPIT portal. Non- Tax Receipts are for all Non-Tax Receipts. The module used is Bharat Kosh application.

3. Reporting -All Monthly and Annual reports are generated and sent to the Finance Ministry through latest tools and technologies such as Decision Support System (DSS) and OLAP (Online Analytical Processing).

4. Treasury Single Account System (TSA)- It is used for cash management, release of just in time funds to ABs, minimize float with ABs, maintain autonomy of ABs. Agencies are required to open account with RBI, these agencies are given fund allocation in RBI as per their schemes, there is transfer at two levels TSA sanction, TSA assignment. The ministries transfer funds to head office from where the fund is allocated thereon. This is only applicable for autonomous bodies schemes grants. e-Kuber is the RBI system integrated with PFMS for this purpose.

However, that hasn’t been the case and especially with accountability whereas there are cases to cite and review because of the corruption that has occurred in its use.

The first citation would be the accused allegedly obtained the said sum illegally from the Federal Government of Nigeria through the Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System (IPPIS) and Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS) platforms, while working as an accountant with the Finance Department of Usmanu Danfodio University Teaching Hospital, Sokoto. Two Hundred and Forty-Nine Million, Nine Hundred and Eighty Four Thousand, Eight Hundred and Forty Seven Naira, Sixty-Two Kobo (N249,984,847.62) was allegedly stolen.

Then more recently the case of the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) with the Director of Finance allegedly making off with One Billion, Eight Hundred Million Naira (N1.8B) with no documentation through the process or knowledge of the accounting officer or executive management, conniving to rob the agency.

An owner of a private university has its physical assets forfeited because the owner was a one-time director in the ministry of health and pilfered money using the GIFMIS. The Abuja Federal High Court gave this judgement in 2022. 

There is also the case of a former Accountant General of the Federation involving the sum of N109 billion pilfered in office, using the same GIFMIS. 

In all these, there comes the question, how much more has been stolen or is being stolen from the country in this manner and how has a system fool proof in its projection became a medium to riches for corrupt officials?

These questions need to be asked as to whether the method of accountability become a highway for access to public funds.

Tertsea Manasseh Gbede