Gombe presents 2020 accountability report
Chima Azubuike
Gombe state government has presented an accountability report on the 2020 budget to enable citizens have good understanding of how expenditure affects them directly, towards fostering greater understanding of how public funds are managed.
According to the summary of the state 2020 financial year, Government presented a 77 percent aggregate revenue performance from sum budgeted.
Speaking shortly after a Citizens’ Accountability Report (CAR), organised by Responsible Citizenship and Human Development Initiative (RCHDI), with collaboration from Ministry of Finance and Economic Development, in Billiri LGA, Gombe South, Mohammed Kulani, Director Final Account Unit Treasury House Gombe, said there was a total expenditure of 25.6%, representing 26.9 billion naira, less than the budgeted amount, which was 107.6 billion naira.
Kulani said, “77 percent aggregate revenue performance of the budgeted 126.44 billion naira, with a shortfall of 28.9 billion naira from both the federation revenue account and Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), within a 75- 80 percent performance.”
Represented by Musa Mahdi, he revealed that the state had a closing balance of 14.8 billion naira , “Due to anticipated receipt for state Fiscal Transparency Accountability and Sustainability (SFTAS) grants in the final month of the year.
“Capital expenditure took the major part of the expenditure shortfall, with the performance of less than 60%. 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.”
According to the summary of CAR, health and education sectors enjoyed the highest proportion of recurrent expenditure, while works and education received the highest proportion of capital expenditure.
Also speaking, Hassan Abdu, Chief Budget Officer, who represented Director Budget, Planning and Development Partners Coordination, Abubakar Geidam while going through objectives of Citizens’ Accountability Report said it fosters understanding around the business of governance.
Geidam added, “It contributes to the effort of increasing government accountability on how how it manges public money as well as foster understanding of how public funds are utilized, especially if the information is presented in an accessible format.”
