Budget performance: ‘Kano spends N596m on furniture, office fittings at MDAs’

Kano State Government has said the sum of N596 million was spent on the provision of furniture, office fittings, and other amenities at various ministries, departments, and agencies by the present administration within the first and second quarters of the 2024 fiscal year.

Besides, the government has directed the immediate revalidation of the second quarter of the state budget performance report to reflect the actual releases on the projects.

Reacting to media reports on the state budget performance, stipulating a sum of N10 billion spent by Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf on furniture, the spokesperson of the Governor, 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 openness, transparency, and accountability in governance.

The statement released on Tuesday 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 tampered with the figures which have generated avoidable reactions.

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“It should be noted that the timely release of the report shows the 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 the payment of over ten billion naira (N10b) was used for the payment of contractors’ liabilities and other expenses incurred by previous administrations.

“The payment was done majorly to clear the backlog of indigenous contractors who were faced with challenges of bank loans and to enable them to settle their debt burdens and help them go back to their normal businesses.”

The spokesperson continued further, “For the record, the first quarter of 2024 gulped 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-five thousand, five hundred naira (N300, 755, 500.00) was spent during the 2024 second quarter on furniture and office fittings for various Ministries, Departments, 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 January to July, 2024, as against the purported ten billion naira. The Accountant General would make available the information on request by any organisation because it is not hidden or secret at all,” said Sanusi Bature Dawakin-Tofa.

The amount spent on the refurbishment of offices, furniture, and fittings at various MDAs is not up to 5 percent of what was purportedly reported. The misleading information in the report was revalidated by the Office of the Accountant General of the state after a series of media inquiries.

“The state regrets any inconvenience 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 their custody,” he added.

The governor cautioned all data managers and handlers to maintain a high level of professionalism in their responsibilities, noting that the Government will not tolerate sharing unreliable data on its activities.

The Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning is directed to review, with immediate effort, the template of the budget performance report in accordance with reliable data at its disposal and ensure no future misrepresentation occurs, the statement emphasised.