The federal government has applauded state governments in the country on their performance in the on-oing States Fiscal Transparency Accountability and Sustainability Programme for results.
The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, rs. Zainab Shamsuna Ahmed who gave this commendation at a dinner for governors in Abuja expressed delight that the $1.5 billion SFTAS programme supported by the World Bank which commenced in 2018 has come of age with the full institutionalization of fiscal reforms at sub-national level.
According to the minister, the event which held on the sidelines of the just-concluded 28th Nigeria Economic Summit in Abuja was specially convened to celebrate the success of the SFTAS Programme and present awards to best performing States in the successive Annual Performance Assessments conducted over the last three years of SFTAS existence.
Awards were presented to deserving states based on their performance in key results areas which include the following: Overall Best on SFTAS (All DLIs), Improvement on Original DLIs (1-9), Fiscal Transparency and Accountability, Domestic Revenue Mobilization, Efficiency of Public Expenditures and Debt Sustainability.
In the first category of Overall Best on SFTAS (All DLIs), Yobe clinched the ‘TOP Performer Award’ with Jigawa, Kebbi and Ebonyi states grabbing the ‘Excellent Performer Award’ while Sokoto, Gombe, Delta, Borno and Niger states got the ‘Very Good Performer Award’.
For the second category: Improvement on Original DLIs (1-9), Borno won the ‘Top Performer Award’ with Nasarawa, Kebbi and Bayelsa states achieving the ‘Excellent Performer Award’ while Zamfara, Imo, Kano, Ebonyi and Akwa Ibom clinched the ‘Very Good Performer Award’.
Under the Fiscal Transparency and Accountability category, Yobe again got the ‘Top Performer Award’ with Gombe, Delta and Ekiti states following closely behind with ‘Excellent Performer Award’ while Edo, Abia, Ondo, Enugu and Kogi States made the Very Good Performer Award’.
The domestic revenue mobilization category saw Osun state clinching the ‘Top Performer Award’ with Sokoto, Kaduna and Bauchi states earning the ‘Excellent Performer Award’ while Kebbi, Jigawa, Ebonyi, Kogi, Gombe, Nasarawa and Plateau states netted the ‘Very Good Performer Award’.
In the Efficiency of Public Expenditures category, Edo braced the ‘Top Performer Award, closely followed by Borno, Niger and Ebonyi states clinching the ‘Excellent Performer Award’ while Delta, Yobe, Kebbi, Osun, Gombe and Jigawa states achieved the ‘Very Good Performer Award’.