Bayelsa records N1.1 billion in internal revenue

Posts N7.8b as balance for January

Bayelsa State Government yesterday, said it posted N7.8 billion as balance of funds available as at the end of January.A statement from the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Francis Ottah Agbo, said the state government also declared N1.1 billion as internally generated revenue for December 2017.
 
Making the disclosure at the monthly Transparency Media briefing for January, in Yenagoa, the Deputy Governor, Rear Admiral Gboribiogha John Jonah (Rtd) explained that out of the N13billion Paris/London Club Refund, the State received in December, it spent about N5.5billion to pay one and half months’ salary arrears owed workers.
 
According to him, the government expended N3.7billion as full payment of February 2016 salaries, while N1.9 billion was used to defray the pending half month salary of civil servants for August of the same year.Jonah also announced a gross Federal Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) inflow of N14.3billion for January 2018, comprising statutory allocation of N2.9billion, 13 percent derivation N9.6billion, Forex utilisation N898million, and value added tax (VAT) of N730million among others.

He said total FAAC deductions gulped N1.6billion, consisting of restructured commercial bank loan of N741million, bond deductions N421million, refunds of overpayments N128million, and Excess Crude Account Facility of N126million, which brought net inflow to N12.6billion.He, however, noted that other receipts such as December IGR of N1.1billion, other sources N500million, and refunds from Local Government Councils over bailout N16million beefed up total funds available for spending to N14.3billion.
 
According to the Deputy Governor, total outflow for January stood at N12billion comprising bank loans of N2 billion, civil servants’ salaries N2.9billion, political appointees N297million, and salary arrears of N5.5billion for February and August 2016.Responding to a question on the reduction of the amount usually paid as civil servants monthly salaries, he explained that it was due to the separation of N630million government doled out to its tertiary institutions, as grant.
 
His word: “One of the decisions government has taken following the public service reforms committee report, is that tertiary institutions should stand on their own. They will only get grants from government.“We are no longer adding that amount to our salary bill. That’s why you see the salary figure going down from N3.8billion to N2.9billion.”
 
Earlier in his remarks, the Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Daniel Iworiso-Markson, described the transparency law enacted by the Restoration Government, as one of the best things that have happened to the state.Iworiso-Markson, who attributed the impressive transformation in Governor Seriake Dickson’s transparency and prudent management of scarce resources, urged future administrations to obey the law for the benefit of the people.