【正文】
he Federation”. On the withdrawal of money by the government for public services, section 120(2) says “No moneys shall be withdrawn from the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federal except to meet expenditure that is charged upon the fund by this Constitution or where the issue of those moneys has been authorized by an appropriation Act. Supplementary Appropriation Act or an Act passed in Pursuance of Section 121 of this constitution” These two subsections formed the basis for the idea of Fund Accounting which was defined as the method of accounting which reports in terms of funds rather than in terms of anizations. Other sections with the objectives of financial regulations at Federal government level are on withdrawal of money from other Public fund Section 120 (3), Authorization of expenditure in default of Appropriation Section (127), Contingencies Fund Section (123), Remuneration of the President and certain other officers Section (127) and Audit of Public accounts Section (125), All the sections of the constitution mentioned above are meant to give a perfect guidance as to the financial planning and control of the federal government. The constitutional emphasis on the concept of check and balance between the legislature and the executive arms of government is enough concern for a need to instill proper accountability and sound control over the Public Funds. But unfortunately, the constitution is almost always under suspension by the Military. Decrees, which would be skewed towards the interest of the military junta, are, in the greater part of Nigeria39。 unpatriotic tendency on the part of the leaders, as regards the implantation of the regulations。t subject the budget estimates to much scrutiny, as the civilian representatives would do. This, again, means no control. APPROPRIATION ACT OR DECREE The President for the payment issue or withdrawal of money prepares an appropriation bill from Consolidated Revenue Fund or any other government fund. An appropriation bill when passed into law by the legislature (or military council) and endorsed by the President is called an Appropriation Act or Decree. The Appropriation Act or Decree is enacted annually to regulate financial and accounting matters. The bill is about the budget estimate for the revenues to be generated and the expenditures to be incurred, both capital and recurrent. The problem with the bill is that it is always about estimates made on the basis of incrementalism. Incremental billing is irrational, nonprehensive and subjective. These characteristics are normally transferred by the proposed bill and its resulting Act or Decree into the actual functioning of the economy and its managers. PROBLEMS AND CHALLENGES The specific problems hampering financial regulations at the Federal government level, and which are manifesting in continuous financial in efficiency, can be discussed under the following subheadings: 1. Human Elements This, in any system, is the most essential but the most difficult to control. Getting qualified people who can accurately interpret and apply the financial regulations is a source of worry in government quarters. The attitude to work of the officers who interpret and apply the regulations, and the speed with which the regulations are being applied and interpreted, count very much in the realization of efficiency in the operations of government. The government is finding it very difficult to obtain and retain an adequate number of qualified accounting and finance personnel that can manage its accounting and financial duties as expected by various legislation. Government accounting and financial systems are not being managed by people who have got their training from some professional bodies like ACCA, ANAN, ICAN, ICMA, etc it is managed mostly, by people who joined the civil services after basic education, with the intention of making a career in the civil service. Accounting and finance graduates are not being attracted to the civil service may be because of the paratively poor conditions of service of the public sector. To achieve the full benefits of financial regulations, government should be able to employ qualified accountants and accounting graduates who can interpret and apply the financial regulations. Alternatively, all those civil servants managing the finance of the government should be adequately retrained in line with the challenges of their different offices. 2. Implementation Problems Programmes implementation is a basic problem in Nigeria. Plans might look very good, but when it es to implementation, performance is poor. This attitude can be said to be the bane o