NTAs STRATEGY FOR TRANSPARENT FINANCIAL ADMINISTRATION: A STUDY OF INTERNAL CONTROL AT NTA ABA

MATTHEWS OTALIKE 15816877

FINANCE AND ACCOUNTING FOR MANAGERS

INSTRUCTOR CHURCHILL WILSON

JUNE 20, 2012

CHAPTER ONE

BACKROUND The gale of financial accounting scandal sweeping away corporate governance across the globe has had its share in the Nigerian economy. The malpractice has led to bankruptcy of many banks in Nigeria in the past twenty-five (25) years. Lack of accountability is worse in the institutions established and run by government. It is so bad that Nwachukwu (2012) quoted KPMGs report that fraud cases in Nigeria and South Africa involved $10.87 trillion. On their part, Obateru & Dakat (2011) reported that one of Nigerias accounting regulatory bodies, Association of National Accountants of Nigeria laments the rising level of corruption inspite of the increase in the number of professional accountants in the country. The management of most government-owned agencies are known to engage in mismanagement and as a result, the government privatised some of its revenue generating organizations. By privatizing them, they have to generate revenue to fund their operations and remit 25% of the gross to the government. The Nigerian Television Authority (N.T.A.) is one of such agencies. In its own case, NTA was rather partially commercialized and not wholly privatized. In view of its public service role (NTA Handbook 1981), the government pays the emolument of all workers in NTA but the firm funds its running cost. The Nigerian Television Authority is a national television network for the people of Nigeria. It was established by the Federal Government of Nigeria in 1976 to provide public service broadcasting in the interest of Nigeria. The television organization as a national outfit is to provide independent and impartial service to all Nigerians as a tool for national development and integration. The core values of the Nigerian Television Authority include among others, professionalism, accuracy, credibility, impartiality, balance and objectivity, national interest, social responsibility and commitment to world peace. At the time of its establishment, there were ten television stations located in Ibadan,

Enugu, Kaduna, Lagos, Benin, Jos, Portharcourt, Kano, Sokoto and Aba. The ten television stations were hitherto, owned by the governments of the states where they operated but brought together under federal administration to enable the federal government supervise their operations. The television authority was established in 1976 through Decree 24 (the military was in power then) with a Director-General as chief executive. It has six directorates covering six professional areas in television News, Programmes, Engineering and Marketing. The rest are Finance and Administration and Training and Capacity Building. Each directive is headed by an Executive Director. The DirectorGeneral and Executive Directors constitute the Board of Management of the Authority. However, the Board of Directors is a body of people appointed by government from outside the organization to superintend the operations of the organization. The authority started operation with six stations located in the countrys six geo-political zones but it has established operational presence in ninetyfour locations across Nigeria. (Appendix 1: Organizational structure) The Nigerian Television Authority was initially fully funded by the owner Federal Government but later became self-accounting when it was partially commercialized in 1995. To sustain its operations, the organization stepped up its revenue generation through quality programming, news and aggressive marketing. To ensure accountability and transparency in its finances, the management board of N.T.A. created two separate departments in the Directorate of Finance and Administration. These are departments of Finance and Audit, each headed by a Director. The Finance Department administers the accounting operations at all levels of N.T.A. The Chief Accountant in each of the ninety-four stations reports to the Director of Finance through the General Manager of each station. In the case of audit, the Internal Auditor in each station reports directly to the Director of Audit at the Authoritys headquarters to avoid interference from the stations management.

STAKEHOLDERS IN N.T.A.S OPERATIONS The Nigerian Television Authority was established by the Federal Government of Nigeria and funded through subvention from the public treasury until 1992 when the organization was partially commercialized by the owner government following an agreement with the national Technical Committee on Privatization and Commercialization. The challenge was for the Authority to engage in partial commercial broadcasting to generate revenue internally to fund part of its operations. The Federal Government of Nigeria as a major stakeholder pays the wages of all the workers in the organization and monitors the internally generated revenue, IGR to ensure effective collection and utilization. The government does the monitoring through internal and external auditing and a centralized management structure that any project to be undertaken by any station from its IGR must follow a due process public tender for bid from interested contractors and competitive pricing. NTA Aba needed to buy two cameras for its operations and sample the prices from three reputable dealers in Nigeria and passed same to the Authoritys headquarters for approval. After confirming the true market price, approval was given and the station bought the cameras. Such control checked any possible fraud in purchases and capital projects; Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria, APCON, the body that regulates the acceptance and transmission of all advertisements is also a major stakeholder. It monitors all advertisements to ensure that standards are met and that advertising agencies which are found to breach APCON codes in their productions are brought to book (Egbagbe, et al 2007);

The National Broadcasting Commission, NBC is the regulatory body that grants licences and spaces to all radio and television stations to operate. It established six zonal offices and one outlet in each state capital to monitor all operations the broadcast media across the country to ensure they do not breach the code of practice (NBC Code, 4th Ed);

Marketers who take up airspace through advertisement and sponsorship of programmes are another set of stakeholders in Nigeria. They monitor transmission to ensure that their adverts and programmes are run properly as scheduled;

KEY RESOURCES The Nigerian Television Authority Aba radiates the maximum 10Kw power of its transmitter. The very strong signal which is its major resource covers the adjoining states of Abia, Imo, Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Cross River and parts of Anambra state. The station transmits 24/7 and therefore has much airtime to avail marketers. The station also has qualified and trained professionals who keep the engine of its servicing running without hitch A vibrant marketing department has sold ninety percent of the airtime available to the station. GOVERNANCE STRUCTURE IN N.T.A. ABA Nigerian Television Authority, Aba is being led by a management team made up of the heads of the six departments with the General Manager at the apex. The General Manager is the stations Chief Executive Officer, CEO. He in turn is accountable to the Director General of the Authority at its headquarters, Abuja. The management team is responsible

for ensuring that the stations day-to-day operations are in line with the objectives of the entire authority from transmission to programmes production, News, marketing, finance and human resources. The management meets monthly to review all the stations activities, iron out observed challenges, smoothen rough edges and discuss tenders for projects approved the Authoritys central management at the headquarters; It is also the responsibility of the management to draw up strategic plans for the station and see to their realization; The management draws up the budget for the station in which the heads of all departments participate actively and see to its implementation. The Chief Accountant is a member of the management team as the head of finance. FINANCE DEPARTMENT AND INTERNAL CONTROL The aims and objectives of the Finance department are complementary to the main and overall objectives of the Nigerian Television Authority. The department is responsible for receiving all incomes due to the Authority, makes authorised payment expenditure and manages the organizations funds and accounts for same to the Director-General who is the overall Accounting Officer for the Nigerian Television Authority. The department is headed by a Chief Accountant who is a management accountant and chartered public accountant. The Finance department created eight sections in order to segregate responsibilities for the accounting staff to ensure effective internal control (Peltz, RSM of McGladrey Inc.) They include the Cash office, salaries and wages, purchases and creditors control, staff advances and control and commercial sales debtors control units. The rest are stores stock

accounting, financial accounts as well as budget and budgetary control sections. Each section is headed by an accounting officer with the necessary books of accounts and carries out the assigned duties as enshrined in NTAs financial regulations. The Chief Accountant oversights the work of each of the sections to ensure they keep credible and verifiable financial records that would be readily verified by external auditors. There is also an Internal Audit unit. One of the most fundamental responsibilities of the internal auditor is to provide assurance that internal controls are in place and they are working (Pricewaterhousecoopers). This unit is empowered to independently audit all the stations financial transactions including purchases, advances, claims, the stores and others. The internal auditor puts up monthly audit report directly to the Director of Audit at the Authoritys headquarters. The report does not pass through the Chief Account and General Manager and any audit query raised therefrom is passed to the stations General Manager for explanation. The more independent the internal auditor is from management, the more likely his or her work is to serve the organizations needs (DiNapoli, 2010). An auditor from the headquarters also visits the station monthly on oversight even without informing the stations management as part of internal checks to ensure that proper accounting standard is maintained. Every quarter of the year (three months interval), an external auditor (independent body) appointed by the Federal Government inspects the books of each of the 94 stations. The awareness on the role of auditors places on all staff of finance department the responsibility of ensuring that the right thing is done all the time. In this regard, DiNapoli (2010) argues that auditors are trained in assessing the control environment because it is a high -level

indicator of how seriously management takes its responsibility for internal controls and how well management is meeting this responsibility. The internal control system was put in place to provide reasonable assurance that there is effectiveness and efficiency, reliable financial reporting and compliance with NTA Financial regulations (Mattie, et al Pricewaterhousecoopers). The system in place makes the role of accounting in NTA Aba effective. It is properly organized and achieving the transparency and accountability goal of the central management of the organization and the system is likely to be in place for a long time until a loophole is discovered. The current Director General of NTA is a chartered public and management accountant and has emphasised strict adherence to transparent financial reporting.

CHAPTER TWO
INTRODUCTION

The Nigerian Television Authority Aba transmits 24/7 and its services complement those of the national network which controls 75% of the airtime daily (See appendix 2 programme schedule). The station is transmitting about forty half hour programmes on its local channel and each of the programmes is sponsored (paid for by clients). The law establishing NTA as a public broadcasting medium says it is not for profit. The Federal Government pays the wages of the workers and funds part of capital projects of the authority. In view of the partial commercialization of operations, NTA Aba generates about N3million on the average every month. However, the station statutorily remits 20% of the gross income back to the Federal Government in compliance with the Fiscal Responsibility Act passed by the National Assembly in 2011.
FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING ANALYSIS NTA Aba business is relatively healthy as the working capital and liquidity ratios are impressive. The station generates on average, internally generated revenue of N3million monthly and its recurrent spending is also within N1million every month through commercial revenue from sale of screen time (airtime). The stations profitability ratio can be said to be acceptable considering the fact that the business is not for profit. The Federal Governments recurrent subvention to the station is for the payment of workers salaries. At the headquarters level of the authority, the Federal Government sometimes finances some specific capital projects through capital subvention but it does not flow down to stations. The stations financial operation is not geared as it is not a limited liability company but a not-for-profit government agency. It does not sell stocks nor does it pay dividend other than the 20% remittance to the Federal Government for fiscal responsibility.

The Finance Department produces weekly cash flow statement to guide the General Manager and the management on spending. The statement shows the opening balance, income and expenses for the week and the bank balance (appendix 1). There are also monthly income statement and final account (balance sheet). These financial statements are submitted to NTA headquarters for scrutiny to ensure compliance with the Authoritys financial regulations. WORKING CAPITAL The working capital management of NTA Aba as indicated in the 2011 balance sheet is sound. This is evidenced by the figure of current assets of N54, 709,022.20 over current liability of N481, 742.55, giving a ratio of 113.56. This shows that there are enough current assets available to meet current liabilities as and when they become due which means the financial strength is growing in relation to the kind of business venture. Arising from this analysis, one can safely conclude that the stations profitability trend suggests that the organization is comfortable in relation to its income and expenses. Other Key Ratios: Ratio is one number expressed in terms of the other in order to show the relationship between the two numbers. The relationship can be expressed as a fraction, percentage or decimal. Liquidity Ratio This shows the ability of the organization to meet its short term obligations as they fall due, e.g. working capital ratio Current Assets/ Current Liability - shows if the business is growing

Quick Acid Ratio - cash + receivables - shows potential ability of the firm to meet its current liabilities Activity Ratio: (efficiency ratio) shows how efficiently and effectively assets are being utilized

Profitability Ratio shows how profitable the organization is in relation to its investment or income

Solvency Ratio or Gearing Ratio shows the stations capacity to meet its long term obligations and how much of the business is financed by debt. This ratio does not apply in NTA Aba but it is applicable in the Finance department at NTA headquarters.

CRITERIA FOR ASSESSMENT OF NTA ABA OPERATIONS

NTA Aba is assessed based on the following criteria: Its expansion and the reach of its signals (areas of coverage including viewership) and not through profit as it was established to operate not-for-profit; It is also assessed through its capital project development within its environment; The impact of its programmes on the lives of its viewers through its educational, entertainment and current affairs.
COMPARISON WITH COMPETITORS There are close competitors of NTA Aba. These include Broadcasting corporation of Abia (owned by the Abia state government), Modern communications limited (private cable service provider), Rivers State Television and African Independent Television, AIT. The yardstick for comparison is the volume of advert placements they attract and the audience a channel attracts, evidenced by the amount of revenue it generates through the sale of its airtime. NTA Aba is found to be most watched as nine (9) out of every set of ten (10) persons confirmed that whatever they watch on other channels will not prevent them from tuning to NTA Aba for News and other interesting informative, educating as well as entertaining programmes.

STAKEHOLDERS WHO NEED NTA ABA FINANCIAL STATEMENTS NTA Aba is required to send its financial statements to the headquarters which, in turn, transmits the statements to the Authoritys Board of Management as well as the parent federal ministry of information. It is a statutory requirement for every agency of government to render its financial statement to government. On receipt of the statement, they study the cash flow; value added statements and the accuracy of notes to accounts against the figures in the Balance Sheet, Income and Expenditure Statements. AUDITING OF ACCOUNTS NTA Aba accounts have been audited and the reports indicate that the statements show the true and fair view of the state of affairs as at 31 December 2011 and the excess of Income over Expenditure including cash flow for the year ended that date. Only well designed, properly implemented and adequately maintained control-related policies and procedures as it is at NTA Aba can provide management with a reasonable basis for making the implicit assertions that underlie any financial statement (Ratcliffe & Landes, 2009). For now, there is nothing on ground and in the records to show any ethical or social issues between NTA Aba and its operating environment. The management and surrounding community interact freely. Some qualified members of the community were employed and they are on the staff of the station. It was part of the demand of leaders of the community in 2002 and as part of the authoritys social responsibility five persons were employed. Since then, the community sees NTA Aba as its own and apart from providing security for the station, those who run businesses take up advert space only on NTA Aba.

CHAPTER THREE MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTING SYSTEM NTA Aba is an arm of the umbrella national network with centralized operational rules and regulations including accounting. There is a structured management accounting system in place at the NTA headquarters. The role of the Finance department in NTA Aba as in the other 93 stations is to carry out instructions already worked out by the headquarters. The station reports to the Finance Directorate at the headquarters through mandatory monthly and quarterly reports which guide the central management at the headquarters to further strengthen management accounting in NTA. The mandatory reports include: monthly financial statement; commercial income returns; expenditure report; reconciliation of net liquid fund; budgetary control analysis report; and Quarterly cash budget.

1. Budget Preparation Budgets are prepared annually at the beginning of each year. This includes the quarterly cash budget which is prepared four (4) times a year to enable management appreciate the liquidity situation of the Authority at the stations level. To do this, at certain time in the year, NTA headquarters invites stations to forward the estimates of the revenue to be generated and their needs within the next fiscal year. As a structured management

accounting system, the invitation from headquarters spells out guidelines to be followed e.g. personnel emolument should account for a certain percentage of the total estimate of the overhead. Budget processes are among the most deeply rooted routines of government. Pollitt (2001) is of the view that it involves powerful players and political interests, not least over crucial distributional issues. All levels of management participate in the budgeting system so that the potential benefits of coordinating and controlling operations can be realized. The budget preparation in NTA Aba is participative as staff participation plays a major role in achieving successful implementation of the programmes in the budget. Staffs are allowed to participate in the budgeting exercise as the activities of each department are executed by the staff during the budget implementation period. As participants in the budgeting process, they have fewer problems implementing their departmental budgets. Staff participation also creates a good opportunity to make budgetary control more effective and transparent. Such environment that enhances control is the foundation upon which all other components of internal control are based and it sets the tone of an organization (Ratcliffe & Landes, 2009). 2. Variances: The variances are identified and analysed through the use of budgetary control analysis in which the budget is compared with actual and the variance analyzed. When an expenditure head is exhausted, virement approval is sought through the authority of the Director-General or the General Manager. Actually the budgeting system is not effective for the following reason:As a service providing organization that is technology driven, when a major breakdown in transmission occurs after the expenditure head for that section has

been spent, in order for the 24/7 operations not to go off air, some emergency funding has to be done while waiting for the virement approval from the DirectorGeneral. 3. Costing: The costing structure in NTA Aba is Activity Based Costing, ABC. ABC is an accounting methodology that assigns costs to activities based on their use of resources, rather than products. In NTA Aba, activities are geared towards programmes production and transmission activities. These are the major plank upon which the services of a television station rest. Activity-Based Costing systems have activities as the fundamental cost objects. Marx (2009) remarks that ABC systems also assume that activities cause costs and that cost objects create the demand activities. The authority applies the programmes production-based costing to absorb the cost of transmission as production overhead. The indirect cost of programmes production and transmission of such programmes produced is taken to arrive at the cost of producing the programmes. This helps in the fixation of rates per hour, half hour, one minute or in seconds. Rate fixing in television is equivalent to price calculation in firms that turn out products. As a governments not-for-profit agency, activity-based costing is most suited for the service providing operations of the Nigerian Television Authority. Saldarini (2000) argues that ABC helps government agencies to make better spending decisions. 4. Break-even analysis: Break-even analysis is defined as the point at which an investment will start generating a positive return or the point at which total costs = total revenue (Wittwer, 2003). Break-even is where gross margin is sufficient to cover fixed costs. More specifically, break-even analysis is a tool in analyzing new

services as well as existing services and also defined as: Net revenue = Fixed costs + Total variable costs. This is the reason the break-even analysis is not undertaken in NTA. NTA generates revenue for operation and not for profit. NTA still transmits even if profit has not been made or it has incurred losses.

CHAPTER FOUR
FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT INFORMATION/STRATEGY The Nigerian Television Authority is a public broadcasting television organization charged with the responsibility of providing social service to the people of Nigeria, is a parastatal (agency) of the government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria under the supervision of the Federal Ministry of Information. Among the objectives of NTA is to serve as a means of bringing news and information to as many Nigerians as it can physically reach ... promote social values and norms, civic and social responsibilities, promote physical, mental and social well-being of the people and encourage the development of human values and respect for the dignity of man (NTA Handbook). The cardinal point of NTAs programming is its public service nature. This according to NTAs handbook (1981) informs the Authoritys financial management policy. From the time of establishment in 1976 and the extant Decree 24 backing the Authority, the Federal Government had been funding NTAs recurrent and capital expenditures. Section 31 of Decree 24 provides that The Authority (NTA) shall prepare and submit to the Federal Executive Council through the Ministry of information not later than 30th June in each financial year a report on its activities which shall include a copy of the audited accounts of the Authority for that year and the auditors report thereon (Decree 24 Sec. 31). 1. Finance Directorate The Authority therefore established a Finance Directorate to handle its corporate financial management including budgeting and funding. The Directorate created five main sections for effective and transparent management. The sections are: Salaries and Wages Cash Office Budgeting and Budgetary Control Final Accounts, Reconciliation and Accounts Receivable and Payable

Foreign Exchange and Capital Project Monitoring

All policies enunciated by the Board of Directors apply in each of the 94 stations across the country. The financial strategy of NTA includes among others to: Ensure that programmes are produced and expenditure made in compliance with applicable laws and regulations; Ensure that the Authoritys assets are safely kept and disposed, liabilities are truly incurred and expenditure made in the interest of the Authority; Ensure that all revenues and receipts are collected and properly accounted; Effective budgetary and stock control by means of appropriate analysis to minimise cost and evaluate performance; Give intelligent and timely reports to management, the board, government and any other interested parties; Prepare statutory accounts and reports with supporting schedules

In order for the realization of the plans, there is in NTA Aba, a financial management information system which does the following: Preparation of annual budget for approval by management; Budgetary control to ensure that no budget vote head is overspent without the approval of the Director-General; Prepare monthly budget and budgetary control reports showing monthly balances and cumulative expenditure and variances; Consolidation of monthly expenditure report for management information; Preparation of cash flow statements; Preparation of financial analysis for management information.

These plans were drawn in 1991 and to date there is no significant review as every of them is still in operation. NTA Aba financial management strategies are tailored towards running expenses according to the stations financial resources. As a partially commercialized agency which was mandated to generate revenue to cover its running costs, the station expends its funds on discretionary items. 2. Capital Budgeting Capital budgeting is done only at the NTA headquarters level where the Federal Government finances specific projects while those not financed by the Federal Government are funded from the Authoritys Internally Generated Revenue, IGR from commercial revenue. At NTA Aba, budgeting is done for tools of the trade that will constantly ensure that the stations transmission continues unaffected. Such tools include engineering spare parts for the transmitter, cameras, post production facilities, studio equipment, vehicles as well as production and other operational costs. The financial management system of NTA Aba is transparent, judging from the reports of both the internal and external auditors which show at a glance that the books are balanced and that there is proper financial discipline. One can surmise that the financial management system is successful.

CHAPTER FIVE
CONCLUSION Transparency can be said to be a scarce item in many governmental agencies in Nigeria. The same challenge is rocking even corporate governance as can be gleaned from reports of financial scandals in many firms globally despite the presence of the rules-based and principles-based financial reporting standards. Adeyemo (2012) remarks that Nigeria sits atop a list of African countries which have suffered a massive outflow of illicit funds in Africa between 1970 and 2008, a claim that cannot be faulted in the light of on-going further disclosures of financial fraud. Low, et al (2008) blames such crisis in corporate confidence on lapses in personal and professional integrity, and their subsequent effect on accounting firms and their corporate clients. This study of NTAs strategy for transparent financial administration with focus on NTA Aba proves interesting, reassuring and puzzling. It is reassuring that in an environment where government agencies are widely alleged to commit financial fraud, there is an agency like the Nigerian Television Authority that set for itself, a strategy to be transparent. The study is an appraisal of auditing as a part of internal control system in the Nigerian Television Authority Aba. The management established a firm structure for internal financial control. It is observed the Internal Auditor enjoys complete independence and the Director of Audit at the NTA headquarters as well as external auditors attest to this fact. The General Manager and management of NTA Aba rely on and make effective use of the financial statements and act on any form of advice from the Chief Accountant. One of the effective control measures is the fact that there is no record of unretired advance. The management drummed it into every staff that without retiring an earlier advance, the amount advanced is taken off the staffs personal emolument. Secondly, retired advances are verified before approval. There is a purchasing task team set up to ensure that all purchases go through due process by sampling market prices of items to be purchased before the internal audit recommends to

management for approval, among other measures. The transmission log for adverts, transmission logbook itself and every source of revenue inflow is checked every day. The Chief Accountant monitors what officers in all the sections do every day to ensure that there is no leakage. The most interesting aspect of the finding is that NTA is not operating for profit as the law establishing the Authority empowers it to provide social service to the people as part of governments social responsibility. In this regard Atrill & McLaney (2011) are of the view that even such organizations that are not-for-profit need to produce accounting information for the stakeholders (government in the case of NTA) to check that the wealth of the organization is being properly controlled and used in a way that is consistent with its objectives. However, since 1992 when the Authority was partially commercialized and directed to generate revenue to finance its operations, NTA management set for itself annual revenue generation target and shares the target among the 94 stations. At the end of 2011 for example, NTA Aba met its target of generating the sum of N130million. RECOMMENDATIONS NTA Aba is one of the 94 stations in the country. The social service focus of its operations based on its ownership by the Federal Government appears to be holding the organization down from extending its revenue generating tentacles to take on programmes outside those enshrined in the statutes by the owner. For NTA Aba to generate N130million in one year is an indication that it can be self-sustaining and be independent of government. After all, the workers wage for the year is about N50million and other running costs amount to less than N12million. It is widely stated in the sports circle that it is not right to change a winning team. In that light, it is recommended that the internal control measures in NTA Aba should be maintained and also replicated in other agencies of the government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to check the large scale fraud in financial management.

Appendixes 1. NTA Organizational structure 2. Transmission Schedule 3. Financial Directorates organizational structure 4. Specimen of cash advance form 5. Spot announcement schedule 6. Internal Audit structure 7. Cashflow statement of NTA Aba 8. December 2011 Income Statement of NTA Aba 9. General Accounting statement of NTA Aba 10. Management financial information of NTA Aba 11. Weekly Cashflow statement of NTA Aba

References Adeyemo, K.A. (2012) Frauds in Nigerian banks: nature, deep-seated causes, aftermaths and probable remedies, Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences Vol. 3 No. 2 [Online] Available from: kingsley.adeyemo@covenantuniversity.edu.ng Atrill, P. & McLaney, E. (2011) Finance and accounting for managers, Laureate Online Education custom ed. Harlow: UK Pearson Custom Publishing. Decree No. 24 promulgated on 23 March 1977 DiNapoli, T.P. (2010) Managements responsibility for internal controls, Division of Local Government and School Accountability [Online] Available from: www.osc.state.ny.us/localgov/pubs/lgmg/managementresponsibility.pdf [Accessed: 30 May 2012] Egbagbe, G. (2007) Code of advertising practice for television broadcasting, A Nigerian Television Authority Handbook. Low, M., Davey, H. & Hooper, K. (2008) Accounting scandals, ethical dilemmas and educational challenges, Critical Perspectives on Accounting Vol. 19 Elsevier [Online] Available from: www.elsevier.com/locate/cpa [Accessed: 23 May 2012]. Marx, C. (2009) Activity based costing and traditional costing systems, Share Voices on Yahoo [Online] Available from: http://voices.yahoo.com/activity-based-costing-abc-traditional-costing4267637.html? [Accessed: 19 June 2012] Mattie, J.A., Hanley, P.F. & Cassidy, D.L. (2005) Internal controls: the key to accountability, Price Water House Coopers [Online] Available from: www.ucop.edu/riskmgt/erm/documents/Pwc_internal_controls.pdf [Accessed: 10 May 2012] Nigeria Broadcasting Code (2006 Fourth Ed.) A publication of the National Broadcasting Commission

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Executive Summary The purpose of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of internal control measures in financial management strategy in the Nigerian Television Authority, a public sector agency owned by the Nigerian Federal Government. This is against the background of the claim in the Nigerian media that all government agencies cook up figures and are fraudulent. Is it possible for an agency of government in such a society to be transparent in financial management? This study shows that the Nigerian Television Authority, NTA has maintained financial transparency through effective management of internal control system and it is managing its operations without government subvention, a situation that is not common among other agencies of government.