INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL REPORTING STANDARDS BOARD CLASSIFIES NIGERIA AS AN IFRS COUNTRY

The Board of the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) has officially classified Nigeria as an IFRS country.
This classification follows the successful implementation of the first two phases of the National Road Map for the Adoption of IFRS in Nigeria.

Meanwhile, the Board will visit Nigeria in November to facilitate the adoption of IFRS by Small and Medium Enterprise (SMEs) in the country.
Chief Executive Officer, Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRC), Mr Jim Obazee disclosed this during a courtesy visit by the President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) to the Council. The IFRS Foundation (usually called International Accounting Standards Board) has not only classified Nigeria has an IFRS country officially, they shall be coming to Nigeria in November to “train the trainers” on IFRS for SMEs at our instance, Obazee said.

IFRS is a set of international accounting standards that state how particular transactions and events should be reported in the financial statement of companies. The standards, which replace the old International Accounting Standards, are issued by the International Accounting Standard Board (IASB), for the purpose of making international comparison of companies as easy as possible.

The journey to adoption of IFRS in Nigeria started in July 2010, when the Federal Executive Council approved the Road map for Nigeria’s adoption of the standards. This was followed with the enactment of the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria Act in 2011, which led to the transformation of the Nigeria Accounting Standards Board to the Financial Reporting Council (FRC). The FRC among other things is charged with the responsibility of implanting the road map for adoption of IFRS in Nigeria.  In 2012   Nigeria commenced phased adoption of IFRS in 2012, with the implementation of the Road Map for the Adoption of IFRS in Nigeria.

Under the roadmap, all companies quoted on the stock exchange and companies with significant public interest are required to adopt IFRS by January 1st 2012. In the second phase, other public interest entities are expected to implement IFRS by January 1st 2013, while the phase requires that small and medium-sized entities should implement IFRS by January 1st 2014.

Obazee said that by 2015, the FRC would require “Not for Profit” entities (NGOs, religious bodies) to comply with IFRS. ICAN, he said, “should take the lead in preparing them, ensuring your members are their accountants, external auditors, and assurance providers. This project should start now.
Obazee said in order to consolidate on the gains of the implementation of IFRS in the country, FRC would soon release the National Code of Corporate Governance.