What are the Implications of President Tinubu’s Ban on Foreign Goods on IPSAS Implementation in Nigeria?

On May 5, 2025, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu announced a ban on the use of foreign goods for the execution of government contracts in Nigeria, as part of his Renewed Hope Nigeria First policy. This policy, which is similar to Donald Trump’s “America First” credo, mandates all ministries, departments and agencies at the federal level to give priority to Nigerian goods, services and technology in the procurement of goods and services.

This laudable policy will have huge implications in many areas of activity in the federal civil service. One such area that merits immediate attention and appraisal is Nigeria’s tottering effort to implement and embed the International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) as the official accounting standards for the three tiers of government.

It has since become clear that IPSAS cannot be implemented successfully with foreign software due to the onerous domestication requirements. Despite this, many government ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs) have mindlessly spent huge sums of money to procure foreign software products that cannot deliver results that comply with Nigeria’s Federal Government IPSAS domestication requirements. Whether President Tinubu’s announcement and directive will be sufficient to bring such reckless procurements to an end depends on whether the government has a framework to enforce compliance with this “Nigeria First” policy. After all, this is not the first time we have had such a policy announcement in Nigeria.

From its launch in 2015, ExpressBook PSA was positioned as bespoke IPSAS-compliant accounting software for Nigeria’s public sectors. It is the only software that comes preloaded with the accrual IPSAS National Chart of Accounts for the three levels of government and the General-Purpose Financial Statements (GPFS), based on the template designed by the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation. With this announcement, one can only hope that MDAs will warm up to ExpressBook PSA and benefit from its rich features, tailored to meet the domestication requirements of the Federal Government of Nigeria.

Click the link below to learn how ExpressBook PSA can help you implement IPSAS without hassles.

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