We are actively seeking international and regional/Nigerian experts on a long-term basis to work within one of the targeted Federal States of Nigeria.
In brief, the experts working in this area will be expected to undertake activities and tasks related to the following:
Accounting: The consultant shall work with the selected ministries to improve accounting practices, and seek increased compliance with accounting standards. Non-compliant accounting practices and poor financial reporting limits the ability of the public sector to monitor the financial position, and reduces the transparency of a government’s financial position. The consultant will work to ensure proper accounting and reporting standards are met, and that government accounts properly reflect the local government’s financial situation.
Internal Controls: The consultant shall work with the selected ministries to improve internal controls operations. Enforcement of internal controls in Nigeria at State Level is very weak. The consultant shall assist the selected state governments to improve the quality and functioning of their system of internal controls. As a result, there will be fewer opportunities for fraud, waste and abuse of public funds, and a reduced chance of negative audit findings. These efforts will reinforce appropriate use of funds leading to improved allocation and expenditure in key sectors of health, education and WASH.
The Project
The purpose of the State-to-State (State2State) contract is to increase the effectiveness, accountability and transparency of selected state and local governments (LGAs) in Nigeria. This will be achieved by strengthening systems to improve the delivery of services in key sectors (basic education, primary health care, and water, sanitation and hygiene – WASH); increasing the efficiency of key governance operations (with a focus on public financial management [PFM] and procurement, as well as monitoring and evaluation); increasing government’s responsiveness to citizen needs and priorities; and improving government and civil society capacity to manage conflict. State2State will work together with partner state governments to reform these sectors, and will learn and replicate best practice examples from other states. State2State will support, scale-up, accelerate and institutionalize new and existing initiatives.
State2State is a governance programme. Better governance is a means towards the ultimate end of poverty reduction by measurably improving primary health care, basic education and WASH services. Conflict mitigation is a core theme of the USAID/Nigeria Country Development Cooperation Strategy (CDCS). The Mission expects that improved governance and public services coupled with a Do No Harm approach, conflict mitigation strategies and tools will contribute to reducing violent conflict in the targeted areas.
Background
Nigeria’s federal constitutional structure consists of three tiers of government: federal, state and local. The majority of basic services, including education, health care and WASH, are the responsibility of state and local governments. A host of challenges in carrying out their mandate, which are of three fundamental types, confronts subnational units: governance capacity constraints, financial resource constraints, and sectoral technical capacity constraints. State2State will primarily address the first group of constraint, with supporting interventions on the second type. Other USAID/Nigeria-supported health, education and WASH activities will address the third type of constraints.
Governance capacity constraints are especially problematic in the realm of public financial management. The capacity of state governments to plan their annual budgets, linking them to medium-term expenditure frameworks and sectoral strategic plans, remains weak. As a result, state governments routinely spend only a fraction of their total budgets. Despite the passage by many states of Fiscal Responsibility Acts to parallel the federal Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2007, these planned and expended state budgets remain highly opaque. A 2015 study found the overall condition of state budget transparency in Nigeria to be “deplorable,” with an average state score of 26 on a scale of zero (complete lack of transparency) to 100 (complete transparency). Despite the passage by many states of Public Procurement Acts to parallel the federal Public Procurement Act of 2007, state procurement processes also lack transparency, are highly susceptible to manipulation, and are a significant source of corruption. Finally, systems of internal financial controls remain weak; audits frequently are not conducted, are of poor quality, or are manipulated to cover up malfeasance.
Timing
This project is a five-year programme expected to run from 2017-2022.
Duty station
The experts will be expected to travel to and undertake long-term assignments in the targeted Federal States.
Required Experience
Key competencies and experience:
Experts should have the ability to deliver Technical Assistance of an international standard to Nigeria’s Federal States, and to work effectively in politically sensitive and challenging environment. You should relish working in a team, should be innovative, energetic, positive, and genuinely committed to achieving lasting change in your work.
The position requires the following skills and experience:
- A post-graduate degree in Accounting, Finance, Economics (or related degree) and/or 10+ years of relevant experience.
- Hands-on experience in in public sector accounting and internal control (e.g. cash management)
- Strong background of accounting and implementation of internal controls at State and local government level.
- Prior experience in developing policies and procedures to ensure the effective and efficient administration of accounting & internal controls at a sub-national level.
- Experience in the development of consolidated financial statements for government
- Knowledge and understanding of Charts of Accounts
- Understanding of financial management information systems
- Knowledge and understanding of fiscal decentralisation and revenue sharing arrangements.
- Experience working with automated tax administration systems, as well as their interface with financial management information systems.
- Competent in identifying legislative gaps and recommending relevant amendments/new pieces of legislation.
- Ability to deliver technical advice and effectively work with government counterparts in a politically aware manner.
- Strong experience in designing and delivering technical training to counterparts, as well as mentoring.
- Ability to demonstrate experience and knowledge of using initiative and being client-orientated.
- Excellent communication, inter-personal, and team-working skills.
- Ability to develop and manage relationships with key stakeholders both within government and the wider environment.
Job Location
Abuja, Sokoto, Bauchi, , Nigeria
More Information
- Job City Abuja, Sokoto, Bauchi, , Nigeria
