Report Validates Yahaya Bello’s Effort In Managing Public Funds

The 2019 Annual Performance Assessment (APA) of Nigerian states under the States’ Fiscal Transparency, Accountability and Sustainability (SFTAS) programme report has validated Kogi governor, Yahaya Bello’s efforts in managing public fund.

To this end, it scored the State 100 per cent for all indicators.
SFTAS is a $750m competitive programme of the federal government through which it rewards states for meeting any or all indicators for improved Fiscal Transparency, Accountability and Sustainability.
The Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning is overseeing SFTAS while the Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation (OAuGF) is the Independent Verification Agent (IVA).

The OAuGF conducts the annual performance assessments of the states with the technical assistance of JK Consulting, one of the most reputable external audit firms in the country. The World Bank and other development partners support the programme aiming to incentivise the 2nd tier of government into institutionalising international best practices and greater probity in their management of public funds.

This was confirmed in a statement by Moses Okezie-Okafor who is the Director General, Research and Development in the Office of the Kogi State governor. According to him, the latest report was released on October 28, 2020, by the Office of the Auditor-General for the Federation and validates the efforts of the state governor, Yahaya Bello, to manage public funds in a manner that is open to both public verification and peer review.

The OAuGF which carried out the assessment based on the nine Disbursement Linked Indicators (DLIs) and Tests, ranked Kogi State high in the areas of improved Financial Reporting and Budgeting Reliability and increased openness and citizens’ engagement in the budget process. The report noted that the state was also rated high in improved cash management and reduced revenue leakages through
implementation of State Treasury Single Account (TSA).

To ensure credibility and quality assessment, the IVA engaged the services of experts in Taxation, Procurement and Debt Management laws to review fiscal legislation and practices in each state.

The 2019 report noted in particular that Kogi had: “Strengthened Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) collection; Biometric registration and Bank Verification Number (BVN) used to reduce payroll fraud; Improved procurement practices for increased transparency and value
for money; Strengthened public debt management and fiscal
responsibility framework; Improved clearance/reduction of stock of domestic expenditure arrears and improved debt sustainability.”

It would be recalled that in the 2018 APA results, Kogi State came second after Kaduna State which earned her an $8.8 million special grant. That incentive appears to have worked going by the current improvement in the 2019 report. As it is now, Kogi State, which is practically the only state in the federation to have implemented Treasury Single Account (TSA), has the highest levels of openness and accountability in its fiscal processes.

On his part, Asiwaju Idris Asiru, the Kogi State commissioner for Finance and Economic Development described the fiscal responsibility system put in place by the government of Alhaji Yahaya Bello in Kogi State as a glass house. According to him, “every person dealing with
state funds is exposed to multiple layers and levels of
accountability. There is no hiding place.”

Reacting to the development in an earlier press release, the state commissioner for Information, Mr Kingsley Fanwo, said the independent verification is a confirmation of Governor Yahaya Bello’s commitment to transparency, accountability and performance. He appreciated the reputable bodies for doing a thorough job and assured that the government would continue to ensure good governance for the people of Kogi State.