By Israel Bulus, Kaduna
Group under the Umbrella Body of ‘ Accountability for Good Governance'(AGG), has described as a ” crude joke” a statement credited to Sustainable Initiative for Development’ (SID) over its ratings of Governor Uba Sani’s Commissioners performance.
The group made its position known on Wednesday in a statement made available to Journalists in Kaduna by its Chairman, Hameed Ali, and Secretary Geoffrey Garba respectively.
The forum said the SID Commissioners ranking, was aimed at deriding well-workaholic commissioners, describing their outburst as a distraction that must be checked and corrected by well-meaning Kaduna State Citizens.
AGG described the ratings as ” fallacious and lacking substance whatsoever.”
The organization said the ranking of the commissioners was not a true reflection of the situation in the State, it argued that no data survey was collated to evaluate the performance of all the Commissioners.
He said those behind the rating did not take into account recent innovations introduced by the Commissioner of Finance and others before arriving at their position.
A cursory glance at her public financial management shows Kaduna state has been commended and recognized by international bodies with many states being sent to understudy Kaduna.
” The Ministry of Finance established a new helpdesk unit, Query and Enquiries, to attend to all payments and contracts-related issues. The unit is responsible for the online payment tracker of the Ministry. This is to ensure seamless, more accessible, and more efficient service delivery to the public.
” Kaduna State through the Ministry of Finance saves monthly to clear pension arrears under the Pension Sinking Fund. A total payment of over N16 Billion from 2015 to date was made to pensioners from the State and the twenty (23) Local government areas,” AAG added.
Because of her financial prowess, Kaduna State was ranked 1st in the 2019 ICAN Accountability Index (AI Index) published in 2020. The State scored 72.7% in the assessment earning a total of three hundred (356) points from a maximum of four hundred and ninety (490) and achieved a ranking of 1st out of the thirty-seven (37) governments assessed.
Kaduna State has introduced and implemented a Funds Release Policy in the state to ensure proper control and management of scarce financial resources, and provide effective control over finances and expenditures in the state.
The group added that the Ministry was able to enact a [Tax Codification and Consolidation] law, which was
reviewed and the law created the new Kaduna Internal Revenue Service (KADIRS), which centralizes the collection and accounting of all revenues in the State and prohibits cash collections, among others. It has helped the State to block leakages and as well in increase revenue generation.
” The Ministry of Finance served as the engine room of creating wealth innovation for funding of projects of all the Ministries and MDAs.
They noted that Shizzer Bada’s financial achievements to the Kaduna State Government are in the public domain for clarification.
