Gombe house committee harps accountability in LG funds
Abubakar Umar
The chairman House Committee on Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs of Gombe State House of Assembly, Alhaji Shuaibu Adamu Haruna, has assured of his committee’s commitment towards ensuring discipline and accountability in the financial management of Local Government Councils in the State.
He gave the assurance on Wednesday, at the Local Government Secretariats of Nafada, Funakaye and Kwami when the Committee paid oversight visits to the Local Government Areas.
Adamu said from the Audit Reports on the Accounts of Local Government Councils presented to the House by the Auditor General of Local Government, the committee observed that over the years there have been problems of delay in remittance of taxes and levies, bank reconciliation statement and non-adherence to Stamp Duty requirement among others.
He said his committee with the full cooperation of the Council Chairmen and their Management Staff is poised to address these and other financial anomalies before the presentation of the 2021 Budget of the Local Government Councils to the House and its subsequent defense before the Appropriation Committee.
The Chairman also reiterated the need for local government councils to devise new ways to improve their internally generated revenues, block leakages and be financially disciplined as he urged them to prudently manage the resources in order to execute many projects that will complement the effort of the State governor Alhaji Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya in providing dividends of democracy to the masses at the grassroots.
Meanwhile, In their separate responses the Chairman Nafada Local Government Council Alhaji Musa Abubakar, Funakaye LG boss; Alhaji Ibrahim Adamu Cheldu and their counterpart of Kwami local governmet Alhaji Ibrahim Buba expressed their delight over the visit and pledged to cooperate with the committee in addressing the anomalies observed in the Auditor General’s Report.
They also promised to heed to the advice of the committee in diversifying their internally generated revenue sources as well as adhere to financial regulations in prudently managing the proceeds for the benefit of the masses in line with the mission of the State Governor.
They expressed concern over the state of the treasuries they inherited, knotty issues in their handing over notes and the dilapidated conditions of their secretariats and called for the intervention and assistance of the State House of Assembly in that regard.
They unanimously commended the State Governor Alhaji Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya for executing people oriented projects in their Local Government Areas, adding that is a clear demonstration of his passion for the masses and commitment to take the people of the rural areas to the next level.
ABUBAKAR MOHAMMED UMAR, Information Office GMHA
