Over N8.1billion were recovered from the discovery and closure of some unauthorized bank accounts in Jigawa, Kano and Enugu State.
?National Programme Manager of the State Partnership for Accountability, Responsiveness and Capability (SPARC), Dr. Joe Abah made the disclosure yesterday while speaking at a media training on the State Peer Review Mechanism (SPRM) organized by the Nigeria Governors’ Forum in Abuja.
He stated that the governors were not in the know of the accounts.
According to him, “by reducing the number of bank accounts in Jigawa from 615 to 105, the Jigawa State government recovered N2billion which it was able to put back into its budget. Kano reduced its own accounts from 756 to 92 and thus recovered N4.5billion; Enugu reduced its number of accounts from 100 to 10 and was able to put back N1.6billion into its treasury.”
Dr. Abah said that inspite of the challenges plaguing the country, the state governors are making silent progress in addressing issues confronting their states, and one of the measures they have adopted is to close down dozens of bank account which are conduit pipes used to siphon revenue belonging to the states.
He? said that unspent funds returned in Jigawa at the end of 2009 yielded N9.3billion which went into the state 2010 budget.
“These are in addition to savings from removing ghost workers, improving due process in procurement, reducing the size of state debts and ensuring that gains from the debt relief granted Nigeria in 2005 by the Paris Club of creditors are used to improve maternal and child health, fight malaria and improve water supply in parts of the country.”