Segun Awofadeji in Gombe
Stakeholders from Gombe South, which comprised mainly rural dwellers, have met with civil society organisations and officials of the state’s Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning to appraise performance of Year 2020 budget.
Residents of Gombe South, which is made up of Balanga, Billiri, Kaltungo and Shongom Local Government Areas, were mobilised to appraise the 2020 citizen’s accountability report and to make inputs to the 2022 budget.
THISDAY checks revealed that the rural dwellers wanted improvement in the agricultural sector that would facilitate increased farming activities in a more accommodating way.
The event was organised by Responsible Citizenship and Human Development Initiative (ReCHDI), in collaboration with the Gombe State Ministry of Finance and Economic Development.
The Director Final Account Unit, Treasury House, Gombe State, Mr. Mohammed Kulani, said that there was a total expenditure of 25.6 per cent, representing N26.9 billion less than the budgeted amount of N107.6 billion.
Kulani, who was represented by Mr. Musa Mahdi, said that there was “77 percent aggregate revenue performance of the budgeted N126.44 billion, with a shortfall of N28.9 billion from both the federation revenue account and Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), within a 75- 80 percent performance.”
According to him, the state had a closing balance of N14.8 billion due to anticipated receipt for the State Fiscal Transparency Accountability and Sustainability (SFTAS) grants in the final month of the year.
He said: “Capital expenditure took the major part of the expenditure shortfall, with the performance of less than 60 per cent. Much of the recurrent expenditure in 2020 was obligatory, based on revenue shortfall. Capital expenditure was largely focused on completing ongoing projects, with very few projects started.”
The summary of the Citizens Accountability Report (CAR) revealed that health and education sectors enjoyed the highest proportion of recurrent expenditure while works and education received the highest proportion of capital expenditure.
The Director, Budget, Planning and Development Partners Coordination Office, Mr. Abubakar Dauda Gaddam, who was represented by the Chief Budget Officer, Mr. Hassan Abdu, said that the CAR would foster understanding around the business of governance.
Gaddam said: “It contributes to the effort of increasing government accountability on how it manages public money as well as foster understanding of how public funds are utilised, especially if the information is presented in an accessible format.”
