Nigeria, June 18, 2016 – Bauchi State Governor, Muhammad Abdullahi Abubakar has taken exceptions to insinuations in the media that the ongoing infrastructural development in the state is not commensurate with money received so far in federal allocations in the last two years.
The governor described the insinuation as nothing but utter humour, stinking of economic ignorance.
In a statement, Special Assistant to the Governor on Communications, Mr. Shamsuddeen Lukman Abubakar explained that the State Governments derive revenue from basically 2 sources; Statutory Allocation from the Federation account and Internally Generated Revenue (IGR).
He explained that such revenue is used to pay all expenditure of government as contained in its annual budget, adding that where there is a mismatch between revenue and expenditure either due to timing difference or other reasons, states borrow in order to bridge this gap, subject, of course to approval by the State Assembly and sustainability ratio as set in the Fiscal Responsibility Law.
“During the period June 2015 to May 2016, Bauchi State received a total of N 42,973,483,752.99 and N 35,032,441,505.57 as statutory allocation for the State and Local Governments respectively, and generated the sum of N 4,731,932,212.92 as IGR.
“Like other states in the Federation, Bauchi State also received a bailout fund of N 8.9 Billion from the Federal Govt. which it used in defraying the cost of payment of backlog of State and Local Government salaries and pension left unpaid by the previous government”, he said.
The Special Assistant on Communication noted that the sum of N 21,088,326,121.32; N 12,936,341,911.02; N 15,677,392,032.73 was used in the payment of salaries of State Govt., teachers and Local Government Councils staff respectively.
“State and Local Government Councils pension paid during the last 1 year amounted to N 3,827,072,901. Capital Projects embarked upon by the Government, mandatory payments for Direct Feeding in schools and hospitals, maintenance of water works, contribution to maintenance of law & order, counterpart funding for SUBEB, SDGs, RUWASSA etc as well as overheads to MDAs gulped N 25,844,800,158.11. Total Expenditure in the last year totalled N 79,373,933,125., he said.
According to him, State and Local Government Councils have remaining cash and Bank balances for the conduct of government business.
“These are facts, and numbers don’t lie. Running a state is never easy as it seems and with these figures, the transparent Government of Governor Muhammad Abdullahi Abubakar is doing more than his best in making the best use of resources to ensure that every single citizen of Bauchi state benefits’’, he said.
He explained that Governor Muhammad Abdullahi Abubakar has shown remarkable financial discipline in managing the affairs of the state.
“For instance since the inception of this administration, himself and his Deputy have been taking only half salary. Similarly all travelling expenses for civil servants and public officers has been substantially reduced. Neither the Governor nor his family charter Aircraft for their domestic travels as was the practice of yesteryears.
“When travelling abroad, Governor Muhammad Abdullahi Abubakar keeps a small entourage consistent with the absolute needs of the state. He neither engages in dishing out undeserved and unnecessarily lavish gifts from state funds nor engages in flamboyance at the expense of the state”, he said and that due to his strict financial discipline he has been called uncomplimentary names by former beneficiaries of such profligacy.
“Yet he remained undeterred in his conviction that public funds should only be used judiciously for public good’’, he noted.
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