The Kaduna State Government said on Saturday that the state had discovered that about N24bn state fund was saved in 470 accounts in 23 commercial banks.
The government noted that the immediate past Peoples Democratic Party administration in the state operated these accounts in different banks over the years with various names.
According to the state, but for the adoption of the Single Treasury Account system recently introduced by the incumbent administration, nobody would have been able to trace and uncover the accounts and the said money.
The state Deputy Governor, Barnabas Bala, stated this in Kafanchan in Kaura Local Government of the state at the Third Town Hall Meeting initiated by the government to interface with the people of the Southern Kaduna Senatorial District.
The Governor Nasir el-Rufai- led All Progressives Congress administration had in August, adopted the STA, directing all commercial banks keeping the state government fund, to remit such money to the Central Bank of Nigeria.
Bala, while addressing the people of the zone, said the system had begun to yield positive. He said the STA, which had been in operation since September 1, was aimed at ensuring transparency and accountability in governance. “With the system we have been able to trace and discover the sum of N24bn in different account names in 23 banks. The STA is to ensure that public funds are traceable and for the sake of accountability in the state,” he added.
He said despite the autonomy granted to local governments in the state by the current administration, some councils in the state were highly indebted. He maintained that top on list of indebted council was Kaduna North Local Government with a debt profile of N3.4bn and Kaduna South with with N994m.
The deputy governor pledged that the state would domesticate the Freedom of Information Act, which would enable the people of the state to ask questions on how “their money are being spent.” According to him, the executive has sent the document to the State House Assembly for domestication. “Government is to domesticate the Freedom of Information Act, which will enable the people of the state to ask how their funds or resources are being spent. It has been sent to the State House of Assembly,” he said.
Meanwhile, Bala said the government was determined to continue with the recovery of land, encroached on by unauthorized persons in government-owned schools and hospitals in the state. Special Adviser to the Governor on Political Matters, Malam Uba Sani, urged the people of the zone to be wary of those he described as detractors, who would stop at nothing to pull down the government for their selfish gains.
