New Telegraph Admin 
Following a report that the Federal Government has suspended budgetary allocations to professional bodies in the country, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) has come out clear on the matter, saying it has long stopped benefitting from the funds.
In a statement signed by the President, Innocent Okwuosa PhD, FCA, ICAN said the report from several media organisations prompted some of its members to call its leadership for clarification, requesting why members were being asked to pay subscription while the institute has been receiving budgetary allocations from government.
According to the Institute, “we observed that this information was communicated through a letter: Ref DG/BDT/GEN.CORR/2016/ XII/3067 dated 26th June, 2023 addressed to Nigerian Council of Food Science and Technology, within the Federal Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation but not specifically to any professional body.
Reading that letter, my understanding is that budgetary allocation will no longer be made to that institution effective 31 December, 2026, the date it will be regarded as a self-funded organisation. “We want to state that once upon a time, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) did indeed receive irregular meagre budgetary allocation of between N1 and N5 million a year.
In 1989/90 year, ICAN voluntarily returned the cheque for the budgetary allocation back to Federal Government (FG) declaring itself a self- financed organisation. “I want to categorically state that since 1990 to date, ICAN has been a self-funded organisation and does not receive any budgetary allocation from the FG.
ICAN relies on members’ subscription, Professional Examination, Continuous Professional Development (CPD) and Faculty programmes’ net fees, other self- financing events example Annual Accountants Conference (AAC) as well as financial support from different organisations that identify with the ICAN brand.
“ICAN however welcomes the decision of the Presidential Committee on Salaries (PCS) to discontinue budgetary allocation to Professional Bodies/Councils effective 31st December, 2026. We believe that like ICAN, all Professional Bodies should be self-financing organisations.
