The Federal Government has ordered the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria(FRCN) to review the curriculum of the accounting profession to enable students gain exposure to practical applications of the International Financial Reporting Standards.
It also directed professional bodies to align their professional examinations with the provisions of IFRS and also enhance their post qualification continuous education in order to realise its decision on the roadmap to IFRS.
The Minister for Trade and Investment, Mr. Olusegun Aganga, gave the directive in Abuja during the 2011 World Bank report on the observance of standards and codes in accounting and auditing.
IFRS is a globally accepted set of accounting standards and interpretations established by the International Accounting Standards Board(IASB) and its interpretative body, the International Financial Reporting Interpretative Committee(IFRIC) for the preparations and presentation of financial statements.
The federal government had while unveiling the blueprint for the adoption of IFRS fixed the transition date for publicly quoted companies at January 1, 2012.
For public entities, it gave them till January 1, 2013 to migrate while small and medium scale enterprises were asked to transit on January 1, 2014.
The two -day workshop was convened to prepare relevant stakeholders on the wider implication of the decision taken by the federal government on July 28, 2010 that reporting entities in Nigeria adopt IFRS by a phased transition effective January 1, 2012.
Aganga pointed out that the transition to IFRS would enable the federal government attract more foreign direct investment thereby boosting employment opportunities. for Nigerians.