Bayo Alabira
Dutse
There are indications that Jigawa state government may not operate a single account system as directed by the federal government after all.
Saying the September 15, 2015 deadline is mainly for federal government Ministries, Departments and Agencies not necessarily for state governments.
This was disclosed by the Commissioner of Finance, Alhaji Umar Muhammed Namadi while fielding questions from our correspondent recently in Dutse.
According to him the idea of a single account was initiated by President Muhammad Buhari with the aims of reducing the level of corruption particularly within the circuit of public office holders.
The commissioner explained that with the current stagnation of economic situation, Jigawa state focus more on how to groom the economic activities in the state rather than decentralizing it or rendering many people jobless.
According to him, the state has been operating 21 different accounts including projects account and closing 20 out of 21 may in one way or the other affect the economic situation in the state.
He further revealed that, though the state government in 2008 made a similar move to have single account in the state but it was not operated successfully.
The commissioner maintained that, introducing the system could equally lead to the collapse of a lot of business activities particularly in some states like Jigawa which enjoys the presence of banks.
On the N10 billion bail out for Jigawa state, he said the money is meant for the implementation of projects with direct bearings on the lives of the people, as present administration manages to pay all workers salaries in the state.
According to him, the N10 billion which is yet to be received by state government from Central Bank of Nigeria will be used to provide social infrastructure in the state among others.
