Public Sector Accounting Reforms and Sustainable Development Goals in Nigeria: Transparency and Accountability Critique

Abstract

Purpose: This study discursively engages with public sector accounting reforms in the context of how much they promote accountability and transparency that potentially reduce corruption and safeguard public resources to achieve sustainable development goals in Nigeria

Design/methodology/approach: The paper adopts a conceptual approach to articulate how public sector accounting reforms could promote primarily the achievement of Sustainable development goal(SDG) in Nigeria subject to the institutionalisation of transparency and accountability to combat corruption, which is an albatross to achieving any of the UN Sustainable development goals.

Findings: The paper indicates that accounting reforms could be incapable of eliminating corruption and delivering the achievements of SDG on zero poverty without a deliberate institutionalization of accountability and transparency in the Nigerian public sector governance. Whereas institutionalised accountability and transparency are necessary pre-conditions for those reforms to achieve their policy thrusts, the reforms instead seek to achieve accountability and transparency without first reforming the institution of corruption that is a threat to those accounting reforms. The paper further shows that the extent those reforms actually promote accountability and transparency is tenuous given the weak institutional and governance structures in which they are embedded.

Research Limitations/Implications: Given that the paper is conceptual in nature, it suffers from the limitation of generalisation of its findings. However it sets the tone for future empirical research on the subject matter.

Originality/Value: To the best knowledge of the authors, this is the first conceptual paper that has engaged the public sector accounting reforms in Nigeria through the lenses of accountability and transparency within the context of achieving SDG 1 implicating corruption in the process. It therefore contributes to the literature on accounting reforms and sustainable development goals within the context of an emerging market.

Keywords: Public sector accounting reforms, Sustainable Development Goals, Nigeria and less-developed economies, Poverty and corruption, Accountability and transparency.