Recently, the World Bank and Office of the Accountant General of the Federation rated Sokoto state high among eight states in the federation that observed prudence in the management of resources. SIDI UMAR writes on this rating.
The World Bank and Office of Accountant General of the Federation recently rated the current administration in Sokoto state high on financial discipline, prudence and efficient management of the state resources. It stated that the state was among the eight in the country that strictly adhered to and never allowed reckless spending.The rating by the global bank and AGF’s office did not come as a surprise to the people of Sokoto state in view of certain control measures and steps taken by the Tambuwal-led administration to put an end to the extravagancies of the past leaders which stagnated the state. The steps include blockage of the state purse to spend only on projects that have direct bearing on the common man, the establishment of some financial institutions to help indigenes secure soft loans for entrepreneurship, a two billion free interest loan to traders in the state and disbursement of N 4 billion to vulnerable women and widows.
Blockages
When the governor told a gathering on May 29, 2015 at his inaugural ceremony that his government would not condone financial mismanagement, many thought he was just making a political statement in view of the fact that he is presiding over a government that came to power through the help of some civil servants /politicians who allegedly perpetrated those malfeasancesDuring his one year anniversary, he blew off the bombshell that his government had uncovered financial sleaze to the tune of N300 million on a monthly basis against local councils staff salary.On hearing the discovery, people were amazed at the same time happy because it was least expected from anybody helped to power. The belief was that some powerful people including his mentors must be aware and might possibly be accomplices on the happenings in the third tier of government. People were also happy because it never occurred to them that the governor would be bold enough to take that step.One year after taking over the mantle of leadership, at a Media chat on May 29 2016, Tambuwal disclosed that his government found that over N 300 million were uncovered in only one month following verification of workers status in 23 local government councils.The governor further told his audience that an official to a council sold out 200 appointment letters to a contractor in the neighbouring Zamfara state. The fraud, according to the governor was discovered when the contractor sent a text message to then secretary to the state government complaining that he had an agreement with an official who sold 200 appointment letters to him on an agreement that the salaries of the 200 persons would be remitted to him monthly.“When the official could not send the salaries of a particular month to the contractor in Zamfara, he then sent a text to the SSG.“The SSG showed me the text message which informed our full-scale investigation into local government salary system.”So, since all the local government areas had their payrolls padded with ghost workers, it became necessary for the state government to embark on staff audit in order to thrash out ghost workers and evolve a clean payrolls for the local government” he disclosed. Similarly Tambuwal had in 2019 constituted the staff verification committee to harmonise the payroll system of the state workforce of which, according to him, the database was inaccurate. The committee took seven months to complete its work and came up with what shocked everybody When the committee submitted its report, it told the governor that it had uncovered an employment racket within the state service as over 1,370 ghost workers were uncovered and N 1,647,657,430.86 sleaze was also uncovered from October 2019 to May 2020.Receiving the report, Tambuwal applauded the efforts of the committee for saving that much for the state and directed that same exercise be conducted simultaneously on local government staff in Tambuwal, Sokoto North and Kware local government areas.He stated that the aim of the exercise was to sanitise the payroll system of the state workforce, but not directed to witch hunt anybody as being speculated.”When I assumed office in May 2015, while interacting with ministries, departments and agencies, I noticed that the database of civil servants was inaccurate which prompted us to come up with various methods to get accurate data in that regard.”True to his words, the action has placed Sokoto on a sound financial track because the state is now among few in the country that pay workers on or before 25th of the month and money saved are being channeled to provide more services that have direct bearing on the common people.
People’s reactions
People have scored the administration’s ongoing reforms in the financial and economic sectors high and described it as a welcome development to free the state from those that milk it dry.In his comment, the former head of service, Dr Buhari Bello Kware, said so many attempts were made in the past by successive administrations to ensure that a comprehensive and reliable database of the state workforce was evolved, but none succeeded until Tambuwal assumed office in 2015.According Kware, series of methods have been employed to deliver results based on the governor’s directives that Bank Verification Number (BVN) should be captured in addition to Biometric staff census up to the current payroll sanitisation exercise.Similarly, in order to ensure transparency and accountability, the government has created a website where all the verified pictures of the staff payroll will be posted on a monthly basis and advised civil servants to make it a duty to always blow the whistle whenever anything suspicious is noted on the website.”This explained how this administration had been anchoring and instilling in the public servants and the entire state positive culture and value that would inculcate the virtues and values of frugality and efficient management of resources. A lecturer at Usman Danfodio University in Sokoto- who did not want his name in print said, “Since assumption of office in 2015, the governor has taken the issue of management of the resources with deserved seriousness. During his inaugural statement, he made it clear that he would run a transparent and a visionary government that would inculcate transparency and fiscal discipline in the state civil service.” Another concerned citizen, Malam Abubakar a staff with Usman Danfodio University Teaching Hospital (UDUTH) said the steps taken by Tambuwal’s administration have yielded fruitful results because civil servants are now living within their legitimate income .
According to him , this has saved the state a huge amount of money which we would now be used to provide infrastructural development.Also commenting on the rating, the senior special adviser to the governor on public affairs, Malam Abu Shekara, said Governor Tambuwal came into governance with zeal and determination to serve the state and make a difference.He said in the 2020 budget, sokoto joined the league of few states in Nigeria to migrate to the international Public Sector Accounting Standard (IPSAS).”The subscription to IPSAS and passing Sokoto State Tax and Fiscal Responsibility Law has substantially satisfied the requirements for genuine development in an atmosphere of openness, transparency and accountability to the people which is the principles of Tambuwal’s administration.”Also commenting, another senior special assistant to the governor, Malam Yusuf Dingyadi said he was not surprised because the governor has appointed the right person and a patriot as commissioner for finance to manage the state finances.He said that World Bank is a reputable and a leading global financial institution established in 1944 to provide economic and financial support to the third world economies.”So for the bank to rate Sokoto state high among 36 states in terms of financial prudence and efficient management of state resources calls for celebration and a garland to the governor.”By recording such feat, the state would soon receive a grant of six billion naira from the bank and another one billion naira grant from the federal government.“The state also secured approval for the soon-to-be- released six billion naira grants from the World Bank due to its commitment to financial stability, tax reduction and funds due process during COVID-19 challenges,” Dingyadi stated.He said the administration focused on revenue generation drive and other economic emancipation exercise to facilitate the state’s growth and reduce its reliance on federation allocations.
According to him, the government recorded increase in revenue collection to about N600 million each month which has never been recorded in the history of the state.He said that the state government had established two financial institutions such as Taj Bank and Giginya Micro Finance Bank to assist people to secure soft loans and establish businesses.Dingyadi said the steps has enabled the state to pay salaries and wages on or before 25 of the month.”Don’t you see that he has directed for the monthly payment of gratuities to the retired civil servants, something that was put on hold since 2007.”His predecessor had never paid a dime throughout his eight year stay in government. Tambuwal had in 2016 eased up the outstanding backlog, released over four billion naira to pay pension and gratuity for retired civil servants between 2016 to 2018,” he pointed out.
