Kano commissioner clarifies misinformation on N10bn furniture expenditure

On Wednesday, the Kano State Commissioner for Planning and Budget, Alhaji Musa Sulaiman Shanono, issued a clarification on the misinformation that the state government had spent N10 billion on the purchase of furniture for offices and parastatals.

It will be recalled that a media organisation (not the Nigerian Tribune) went viral with a report that the Kano State government had spent N10 billion on furniture, a story that generated many questions.

However, while responding to questions from journalists on Wednesday in Kano at a press conference, he disclosed that the figure was erroneously categorised as the purchase of furniture and fittings instead of the settlement of liabilities of local contractors domiciled in the Ministry of Finance.

He said, “You may wish to recall that there were media reports published in respect of the issue of over ten billion naira spent on the purchase of furniture and fittings. It was observed that the issue had to do with the budget populating template that erroneously categorised the expenditure as the purchase of furniture and fittings instead of the settlement of liabilities of local contractors domiciled in the Ministry of Finance.”

“However, the project description in the second quarter report justified that the expenditure is captured as payment of liabilities going by administrative classification,” he stated.

While speaking during the press conference, he added that the budget performance report for Kano State is prepared quarterly and issued within four weeks from the end of each quarter.

“This is a provision of the State Fiscal Transparency, Accountability, and Sustainability (SFTAS) as well as the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF),” he explained.

“The report includes the original approved budget appropriation for the year 2024 against each organisational unit for each of the core economic classifications of expenditures (Personnel, Overheads, Capital, and Others); the actual expenditures for Quarter Two (Q2) attributed to each organisational unit; as well as the cumulative expenditures for the year to date. The balances against each of the revenue and expenditure appropriations were outlined in the report.”

“The Second Quarter report is assessed against the 2024 approved budget with a total outlay of N437,338,312,787.93, a performance of revenue of N222,499,867,516.74 or 50.9%, and an expenditure of N163,615,769,123.21 or 38%,” he explained.

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