The Sokoto State Government is richer by $22 million World Bank’s grant for its commitment to the implementation of the State’s Fiscal Transparency, Accountability and Sustainability (SFTAS) programme.
A breakdown of the grant shows that the state got $5 million in November for approving COVID-19 budget and $17.4 million balance for its 2019 fiscal performance two weeks ago.
The State Government clinched the grant after its astronomical score in the SFTAS ranking from 2/5 in 2019 to 14/15 in 2020, which puts it among the top three states in the country got the balance of $17.4 million for its 2019 fiscal performance two weeks ago.
A press release issued by Muhammad Bello, Special Adviser Media and Publicity to the Governor on Thursday said the government garnered $2.5 million grant from the World Bank last year.
Also in the period under review, the state government doubled its share of the federally collected PAYE tax and undertook a forensic audit of its pension benefits.
Presenting the committee’s report entitled: Sokoto State: The Gains of Opening Up, during a State executive council session, Dasuki said “Sokoto is now a template for revenue generation and budget transparency in Nigeria.”
He added that “on the bedrock of (Governor Tambuwal) huge investment on human capital development…we collectively recognized the need to reform the obstinate bureaucracy and modernize our payment processes.
“We set out to tackle the challenge of a poorly documented and evidently duplicated workforce to ensure transparency and block leakages in payment processes and revenue collection channels.”
As a result of all the works of the committee, Dasuki stated that the state payroll and non-personnel payments are now automated, its internally generated revenue increased as its Inland Revenue Board is also upgraded.
The report of the SFTAS Committee presented to Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal stated the government established “a liability of over N500 million which is under verification and validation by the Pension Transition Arrangement Directorate (PTAD).”
Receiving the report, Governor Tambuwal thanked the committee for the feat, and directed that members of the committee should be given automatic promotion in appreciation of their efforts.
He described their work as “tedious, tasking and painstaking,” saying that when it was first initiated many people thought it was deliberately started to punish them.
According to him, the “intention is to bequeath the state with strong institutions for good governance.”
“I don’t believe in business as usual. I believe in Sokoto State being the frontline state in good governance. These are the reasons behind all the reforms. In the long run, the state will be the one to benefit.”
He commended the incumbent state Commissioner for Finance, Abdussamad Dasuki and the SFTAS team; his predecessor, who is the current Secretary to the State Government, Mal.Saidu Umar, that worked conscientiously to make the state attain the World Bank ranking.
The governor also gave kudos to the Sokoto State House of Assembly (SOHA) for making enabling laws that propelled the SFTAS Committee to success.
