Gov. Inuwa Yahaya of Gombe state says his administration has uncovered N1.48 billion from 586 undisclosed accounts, while 265 hidden accounts linked to the previous administration was also uncovered.
Yahaya disclosed this in Gombe on Thursday while declaring open a one-day workshop on Treasury Single Account (TSA) tagged: “Cash Management Strategy”.
The workshop was organised for chief accounting and paying officers, heads of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), also as higher institutions.
He said since he signed implementation of the TSA, tons of successes had been recorded as a complete of two , 292 accounts linked to the government were captured additionally to the 265 hidden accounts discovered.
According to him, his administration had closed 586 dormant accounts after generating their annual account statements for correct reconciliation and documentations.
“This shows the enormity of the financial indiscipline and capacity inherited by his 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.”
According to him, if the state must make progress, reforms are going to be inevitable and for us, it’s either we reform or we perish. there’s no option.
He added that so as to further foster efficient management of money resources, he approved the Cash Management Strategy for the state, stressing that such would help enhance budget performance by preventing costly budget overruns.
According to him, his administration doesn’t see budget as mere figures, but as a tool of governance where expenditure must be carefully planned and backed by revenue so as to satisfy budget expectations.
He said in sight of the scarce resources and therefore the got to implement projects that might improve the living standard of the people, the implementation of the TSA was being leveraged to realize results.
“There is not any 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 very best level of competence and professionalism from our accounting officers,” he said.
While charging participants to pay keen attention during the exercise, Yahaya expressed the hope that the workshop would result to prudency and transparency in management of state resources. (NAN)
