CHAPTER ONE                                   INTRODUCTION 1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY Public  sector  is  that  sector  of  the  economy  established  and  operated  by   government and its agencies distinguishable from the private sector and are   organized on behalf of the whole citizens while Public sector accounting is the process government agencies and municipalities use to record financial   transactions.   Mathias, (2004:78). Said, similar to private sector accounting in theory, the focus of public sector accounting is somewhat different. Most government agencies  and  municipalities  need  to  track  funds  generated  from  tax revenues and expenditures related to projects or appropriations. In addition, nations  may  need  to  follow  a  set  of  standard  of accounting principles different  from  private  sector accounting rules.  The  creation  of  an   international accounting standard helps  nations  to  follow  similar  rules  in other to present information in a similar manner.   Government accounting typically  uses  a  set  of  rules  that  tracks  financial   information.  Rather  than  attempting  to  determine  how  much  money  a   public sector entity has made, the entity must report financial information to  interested parties,  primarily  constituents.  The  separation  of money  into these  funds  makes  it  difficult  for  government  agency  or  municipality  to spend  money  on  unauthorized  purposes.  Elected  officials  or  legislatures  11 must  create  appropriations  or  spending  authorizations  to  transfer  funds   amongst  government  fund  accounts.  This  process  attempts  to  restrict  the   spending  of  money  on  a  free-will  basis  that  will  quickly  deplete  an agency‟s resources Similar  to private sector accounting, public sector accounting principles often seek to lay a framework for accounting practices.    Afolabi,( 2004:320). Said rather than creating a hard set of rules to follow, the principles allow for an application of basic principles to either large and small  entities  or  municipalities.  An  international  set  of accounting   principles is also necessary for smaller nations to learn and adopt rules that will  enhance  their  internal  national accounting process.  Most  times,   developing  nations  cannot  or  do  not  have  the  resources  capable  to  create and  instil  a  framework  for  their public sector accounting practices.   Adopting an international set of accounting rules will help them overcome this problem and typically helps them start on the path better infrastructure   development. Another purpose of public sector accounting is  to  create  a  standard   expectation  of  ethics  and  accountability  for  a  nation‟s  financial   information. Standard public accounting principles will also make it easier for  a  nation  to  undergo  an audit.  it  is  also  harder  for  countries  to  hide   inappropriate  financial  transactions  when  using public sector accounting   principles. This research study will therefore appraise the impact of public  12 sector  accounting  in  Nigerian  financial  control  system  focusing  on  Esan South East local government. 1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM The  problems  inherent  in  this  research  study  as  investigated  by  the   researcher are; 1. INADEQUATE REVENUE: that is, the source of revenue available to     Esan South East Local Government authority most often is not enough     for them, as this invariably affects diverse activities that are carried out     in the local government area. 2.  Poor administration of local government funds. 3. Another problem is the fact that the control of public fund adopted by the     local government is inappropriate. It is as a result of this that there are     still  setbacks  in  the  local  government  as  regards  to  infrastructural       development. 4.  The  adoption  of  inappropriate  and  ineffective  public  sector  accounting       principles and guidelines. 5.  Another  problem  is  that  the  accounts  of  the  local  government  are       characterized by inadequacies such as, improper maintenance and book     keeping  of  accounts  and  other  necessary  records,  embezzlement  of     public funds especially by the top officials.