Public Value Creation, Sustainability Accounting and Reporting by Nigerian Public Sector Organizations: Issues and Prospects

Abstract

Sustainability accounting and reporting of public value delivered to citizens by the public sector has taken a central stage in transparency and good governance globally. Unfortunately, the delivery and reporting of value created by the Nigerian public sector are still issues of concern in the country. The study is exploratory research that examined the challenges of the accounting practice and reporting of public value created by the public sector in Nigeria. In the process of research, relevant literature on the subject matter and published articles obtained from the internet and library were reviewed. From the review, it was found that there was a lack of political will to deliver public value.
Lack of involvement of citizens in public project delivery and lack of personnel with the requisite skills are some of the challenges of public value creation in the Nigerian public sector. The paper recommends, among others, that commitment of political leaders to create and deliver public value, involvement of citizens/stakeholders in the initiation and execution of public projects, training of personnel in the public sector on sustainability practice and reporting, and awareness creation on the importance/benefits of sustainability practice and reporting of value created as strategies to overcome the myriad of challenges of public value creation and sustainability reporting by the Nigerian public sector.