We Uncovered N1.4bn Hidden Fund Through TSA – Gombe Gov

Governor of Gombe State, Inuwa Yahaya, on Thursday said his administration had discovered N1.48 billion hidden in undisclosed and dormant accounts since the state began implementing the Treasury Single Account(TSA).

The governor disclosed this at the Government House while declaring open a one-day workshop on TSA, tagged: “Cash Management Strategy”.

He noted that the state government also uncovered a total of 2,292 accounts linked to the previous administration.

The workshop was organised for accounting and paying officers of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) as well as chief executives of institutions of higher learnings in the state.

The governor affirmed that the state had recorded notable successes since he signed implementation of the TSA. He said a total of 2, 292 accounts linked to the state government were captured in addition to the 265 hidden accounts discovered.

“586 dormant accounts were closed after generating their annual account statements for proper reconciliation and documentation. This shows the enormity of the financial indiscipline and opacity inherited by our administration.

“You can imagine 2, 292 accounts being operated in one government and you expect proper accountability and records, we must do something to safeguard ourselves,” he said.

To foster the efficient management of resources in the state, Yahaya said the administration has approved the Cash Management Strategy (CMS) to enhance budget performance by preventing costly budget overruns that negatively affect the implementation of the state’s Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF).

He said the introduction and enforcement of the TSA was one of the steps taken by the administration to stop the financial wastefulness in the state.

“It is worthy of note that on our coming to office on May 2019, we met the State finances in a delicate situation, characterized by high debt burden, wastefulness and lack of accountability,” he said.

He said given the scarce resources and the need to implement projects that would improve the living standard of the people, the implementation of the TSA was being leveraged to achieve results.