Niger State Government has reiterated its commitment towards achieving its mandate of ensuring the financial stability of the state by delivering timely service and advice for better government operation.
The state Hon. Commissioner of Finance, Alhaji Zakari Abubakar, gave the assurance in a Media parley monitored by Tribune Online over the weekend in Minna.
Alhaji Zakari Abubakar had in conjunction with the Management staff, the ministry participated in the weekly Radio Niger audience participatory programme, “Contact,” last Saturday.
The Finance Commissioner explained that the mandate of the ministry was not only gathering and distributing money as perceived by the public but looking over the financial health of the state.
He observed that no government or institution could be financially comfortable because life itself was full of challenges adding that the ministry and the state as well were not an exception to challenges.
He said the incumbent Governor Abubakar Sani Bello- led recent administration in the state came on board in 2015 when the economy of the World was on downward spiral, stressing that this affected revenue generation while the government was saddled with a high wage bill which still lingers till date.
He pointed out that the challenges bedevilling the state presently were low Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), dwindling federal revenue and hanged debt, particularly from bonds which were taken by the previous administration; saying, “at that time, there was a need to adjust and look at the portfolio of the debt and match it with the state revenue.
“Essentially I believe like any institution or any organisation, our problems are high cost and low revenues,” he added.
Zakari Abubakar noted that the essence of establishing the ministry of finance was to manage state finances and ensure there was stability in the system, emphasising that if the government was comfortable financially there would have been no need to have Ministry of Finance or appointing anyone to manage the state finance.
He disclosed further that Niger State was not comfortable financially but could do better looking at what the state spent as wages, saying, “the state spends about 90 to 95 per cent of its income on salary and salary-related issues which is not healthy for any government or institution because you need to invest also in social or physical infrastructures that will guarantee the future of the future generations.”
On non-remittance of deductions made from workers salary to some financial institutions such as Credit Direct, Mortgage Bank and Cooperative Union, the commissioner said it was their resolve to ensure that every worker gets 100 per cent of his or her salary despite the difficult financial situation of the state adding that they were in talks with the financial institutions involved, stressing that they have released some money to Cooperative Union in February and would do same this month.
He also admitted that some MDAs do not receive overhead cost despite being critical to the running of government, explaining that there was a shift from the general application of the overhead cost to a specific one.
He explained further that there was a gap between what they envisaged as revenue coming to the state and what was received, pointing out that from January 2021 till date, the state only received about 51 per cent of what was envisaged from FAAC, while they received only 30 per cent for IGR which the shortfall had to be augmented.
He revealed that they had performed only about 55 per cent of all the revenue of the state adding that the bulk of the revenue goes to personnel cost which the state had only performed about 65 per cent of it.
Speaking on Treasury Single Account (TSA), the Commissioner of Finance said it was not true that institutions collapsed because of TSA, saying it was the same TSA that the Federal Government, as well as Lagos and Kaduna State governments, were using.
He said the system of generating and consume was anti-TSA which breeds corruption, adding that they wanted to account for all revenues generated by all government institutions, stressing the need to maintain the TSA.
On how much was saved from the recent staff verification and screening exercise recently conducted in the state, the Commissioner said the exercise was still ongoing and as such cannot say what had been saved, while on those who did not get their March salary, he said they should go to the office of the Head of Service to lodge their complaints as his ministry only paid those that have been cleared.
Zakari also disclosed that the funds for the completion of the City Gate to Chanchaga road project had been released and the contractor was expected to resume work soon when the money hits his account.
Also in his remarks at the occasion, the state Accountant General who equally presides over the state Board of Internal Revenue, Alhaji Saidu Abdullahi, said resources were not forthcoming as they should and what was received in recent times falls short of expectations while there was the need to reorganise the revenue board to look inward and diversify to ensure that the IGR improve to augment what was gotten from federal allocation.
He added that they will ensure all loopholes were blocked and ensure all revenue-generating agencies lived up to their obligations as it was not going to be business as usual because anyone who wished to eat from a pot must also contribute to the pot, adding that they will be up and doing to complement the federal allocation.
YOU SHOULD NOT MISS THESE HEADLINES FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
Niger govt will ensure financial stability
#EndSARS: As British Parliament Hears Petition, UK Govt Says It Won’t Speculate On Sanctions
The British Parliament at the Westminster Hall held a debate on ‘e-petition 554150, relating to Nigeria and the sanctions regime’ on Monday. The government of the United Kingdom has however responded… Niger govt will ensure financial stability Niger govt will ensure financial stability