Impact of International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) Adoption on Financial Accountability in Selected Local Governments of Oyo State, Nigeria

The study evaluated the impact of International Public Sector Accounting Standard (IPSAS) on the financial accountability of selected local governments of Oyo State, Nigeria. The impact of IPSAS adoption on corruption reduction, transparency and accountability in the selected Local Governments were critically examined. The study which adopted survey design collected data using five point likert-scale questionnaires which was administered on sample of 105 Accountants and Internal Auditors in the selected local governments of Oyo State Nigeria.

The data was analyzed using descriptive statistics. The hypotheses formulated were tested using chi-square analysis at 5% level of significance. The result of the study showed that adoption of IPSAS increases the level of accountability, transparency and reduces corruption in the selected local governments. This implied that the economy of Nigeria will be better off if IPSAS is fully adopted and implemented.

Having seen IPSAS as the agents of the needed change in Nigeria, the study recommends that Nigerian government should enact an enabling law to back up the adoption and implementation of IPSAS and more importantly institute appropriate sanctions to ensure full compliance.