We used N596 million for office furniture, not N10 billion – Kano gov’t clarifies
Story by Aliyu ASKIRA
Kano State Government has clarified that the sum of N596 million, not N10 billion, was spent on the provision of furniture, office fittings and other amenities at various ministries, department and agencies within first and second quarters of 2024 fiscal year.
The clarification is coming after media reports alleged that the state government under Abba Yusuf spent the sum of N10 billion on office furniture and fittings in the first six months of 2024, higher than budgets allocated for health, education and others.
The report (unconfirmed by Neptune Prime), revealed that office furniture and fittings gulped N10.4billion, while capital expenditure for water resources took only N4.2 billion in the first six months of 2024.
Reacting to the media report on Tuesday, spokesperson of Governor Yusuf, Sanusi Bature Dawakin-Tofa, urged the public to disregard the figure, which he said was intended to dent the image of the government.
According to Dawakin-Tofa, the administration of Governor Yusuf placed high priority on budget realism to achieve clear openess, transparency and accountability in governance.
The statement said, “The state Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning has just released the second quarter budget performance report on the 28th of July, 2024 and has mistakenly tempered with the figures which has generated avoidable reactions.
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“It should be noted that the timely release of the report shows unwavering commitment of the government in making available to stakeholders, the information on all expenditures as promised to the good people of Kano during the electioneering campaign.
“Unfortunately, the second quarter report was erroneously submitted with a mix up in the template as data for payment of over ten billion naira (N10b) was used for payment of contractors’s liabilities and other expenses incured by previous administrations.
“The payment was done majorly to clear the backlog of indiginous contractors who were faced with challenges of bank loans and to enable them settle their debt burdens and help them go back to thier normal businesses,” the statement explained.
The spokesperson further said, ”For the record, first quarter of 2024 gulfed the sum of two hundred and ninety five million, eight hundred and twenty seven thousand, sixty two naira, eighty seven kobo (N295, 827, 062.87) while the sum of three hundred million, seven hundred and fifty million, five hundred naira (N300, 755, 500k8) was spent during the 2024 second quarter on funiture and office fittings for various Ministries, Department and Agencies respectively.
“A total of five hundred and ninety six million, five hundred and eighty two thousand, five hundred and sixty two naira, eighty seven kobo (N596, 582, 562.87) was spent from Januray to July, 2024 as against the purported ten billion naira.
“The Account General would make available, the information on request by any organisation because it is not hiden or secret at all,” Sanusi Bature Dawakin Tofa said.
“The amount spent on refurbishment of offices, funiture and fittings at various MDAs is not up to 5 per cent of what was reported. The misleading information in the report was revalidated by the office of the Accountant General of the state after series of media enquiries.
“The state regrets any inconvinience from the report to all stakeholders, including development partners, financial institutions and government agencies. It was as a result of the inability of the officials responsible for reporting the budget performance to validate the data in thier custody,” he added.
“The governor further cautioned all data managers and handlers to maintain high level of professionalism in their responsiblities, noting that government will not tolorate sharing of unreliable date on its activities.
“The Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning is directed to review with immediae effort, the template of budget performance report in accordance with reliable date at its disposal and ensure no future misrepresentation occur,” the statement emphasised.
Proofreading and editing by Gift Luckson and Hafsat Aleeyu Muye. Editor and Journalist at Neptune Prime.
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