Gombe State
Governor, Inuwa Yahaya said his administration has discovered N1.48 billion
hidden in 860 undisclosed and dormant accounts.
Yahaya, who disclosed this on Thursday, November 12, at the Government House while declaring open a one-day workshop on Treasury Single Account, TSA, tagged: “Cash
Management Strategy” said the state government uncovered a total of 2,292 accounts linked to the previous administration.The workshop
was organised for accounting and paying officers of Ministries, Departments and
Agencies (MDAs) as well as chief executives of institutions of higher learnings
in the state.
The Governor
said since he signed implementation of the TSA, a lot of successes had been
recorded as a total of 2, 292 accounts linked to the state government were
captured in addition to the 265 hidden accounts discovered.
“586 dormant
accounts were closed after generating their annual account statements for
proper reconciliation and documentation. This shows the enormity of the
financial indiscipline and opacity inherited by our administration. You can
imagine 2, 292 accounts being operated in one government and you expect proper
accountability and records, we must do something to safeguard ourselves.” he
said.
Yahaya noted
that in order to foster efficient management of resources in the state the
administration has approved the Cash Management Strategy (CMS) which is aimed
at enhancing budget performance by preventing costly budget overruns that
negatively affect the implementation of the state’s Medium-Term Expenditure
Framework (MTEF).
He said that
the introduction and enforcement of the TSA was one of the steps taken by the
administration to salvage the financial wastefulness in the state.
“It is worthy
of note that on our coming to office on May 2019, we met the State finances in
a delicate situation, characterized by high debt burden, wastefulness and lack
of accountability," the governor noted.
He said in
view of the scarce resources and the need to implement projects that would
improve the living standard of the people, the implementation of the TSA was
being leveraged to achieve results.
“There is no
doubt that the COVID-19 pandemic has led to devastating economic consequences
globally. To navigate this, states must develop innovative ways of saving cost,
improving efficiencies and eliminating wastage. This requires the highest level
of competence and professionalism from our accounting officers,” the governor
stated.
“There will
be no development without the requisite resources to help implement of our
development agenda. That is why our administration is focused on mobilizing
resources to finance the execution of projects and programs that will impact
positively on the lives of our people.”
Yahaya
explained that the workshop was designed to bring relevant stakeholders up to
speed on the new TSA policy in the state and urged the participants to be
attentive and gain the necessary insights and experience to make the new policy
a success.
“The success
of the TSA depends on your ability and willingness to buy in to the new policy,”
he added.
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