Nasarawa state government Press statement
- By Super Admin
- Published 12/13/2010
- News
- Unrated
The attention of the Nasarawa State Government has been drawn to the circulation in the media and elsewhere of a malicious news report by a bunch of attention-seeking political hirelings who are out to embarrass the person of the State Governor, His Excellency, Alhaji (Dr) Aliyu Akwe Doma, OON (Madauchin Doma) and the State Administration, in this season of heightened political activity in the run-up to the 2011 general elections. The petition, purportedly directed to the State House of Assembly is the latest twist in the three-month-long campaign of calumny and character assassination by these shameless political jobbers whose stock-in-trade consists in causing confusion and sowing public disaffection.
We are therefore constrained as a responsible state government that has distinguished itself in the past three and half years in the service of the people and the provision of democracy dividends to all the nooks and crannies of the state, to expose their hidden political agenda in order to set the record straight for the benefit of the members of the public.
These allegations and outright fabrications are the product of jaundiced minds, doing the bidding of their paymasters. These allegations are all blowing in the wind and do not add up one bit. They should therefore be discountenanced by all and sundry. If anything, they go a long way to sustain our cardinal position that the detractors in Nasarawa State has absolutely nothing to offer the populace, hence the increasing resort to blackmail aimed at destabilizing the state as a whole.
Hitherto, the same detractors had made strenuous efforts to hoodwink the public that the state government has not achieved anything in office. But realizing that this line of propaganda has failed to make any impact or impression on the people in the light of the overwhelming support and state-wide endorsements being enjoyed by the State Governor, they have, therefore, had to beat a hasty retreat. As evidenced by their latest showing, the issue is now no longer one of non-performance, but that of falsifying the cost of the projects executed or being executed by the State Government!
It is pertinent to state that the award of all contracts under Governor Doma's administration in the past three and half years - be they procurements, services or construction - have always followed an open and transparent process. It should be noted that since the inception of this Administration, the State has always and consistently adhered to the statutory requirements of publishing the audited annual accounts and financial statements of the State. This shows the adherence of the Administration to matters of transparency and accountability in the operation and management of Government affairs. This lofty standard set by the State Government has become a benchmark worthy of emulation.
Events and developments have necessitated the need to draw the attention of the general public against wild speculations and rumours, particularly the ones making the rounds alleging the disappearance of huge sums of money from the coffers of the State Government. These allegations, some of which pertain to the sum of US $89 million Paris Club debt refund made to the State by the Federal Government in December 2007, and another sum of N9 Billion belonging to the State's Local Government Joint Account, both of which are said to have "disappeared" into thin air. These allegations are false in their entirety and bear absolutely no resemblance to reality.
It is on record that the Federal Government of Nigeria made a refund in December 2007 of the sum of US $89 Million which had been wrongly deducted at source from the allocations accruing to the state in respect of Paris Club debt exit. Thus contrary to what they would like the public to believe, this sum was captured in the summary of Capital receipts (Head 410, Sub-Head 5) page 189 of the 2008 budget, and (Head 410, Sub-Head 4) in the 2009 approved budget at page 229. These facts are verifiable since the appropriation laws of the state are public documents which are available to the general public. We further make bold to state that the engagement of consultants to assist the state in the recovery of this fund and the payments thereto, is in compliance with standard and acceptable practice based on negotiated professional charges.
The allegation of the disappearance of the sum of N9 Billion from the state's Local Government Joint Account presents another vista of the abysmal level of ignorance on the part of these questionable characters of government financial management process. The Audited Financial Statements of the Local Governments for the period in question are available for the discerning public. It is to be noted that all monies accruing to Local Governments in the State by way of statutory allocations, VAT and Excess Crude are directly remitted into the State Local Government Joint Account by the Central Bank of Nigeria and disbursed/shared by the Local Governments themselves in accordance with the provisions of the Local Government Law. The expenditure profiles of the local governments are determined by the councils in accordance with their operational requirements with the Ministry of Local Government providing supervisory guidance.
CONCLUSION
In view of the foregoing, the good people of Nasarawa State are invited to discountenance false and baseless information being circulated with the intent of causing disaffection against this Administration.
In the same token, security agencies are requested to watch out and take necessary action against all mischief makers and rumour peddlers who are bent in disrupting of subsisting peace and harmony in the State for their selfish and inordinate ambition.
Signed.
Barr. M. T. Alakayi
Commissioner of Information and Orientation.
We are therefore constrained as a responsible state government that has distinguished itself in the past three and half years in the service of the people and the provision of democracy dividends to all the nooks and crannies of the state, to expose their hidden political agenda in order to set the record straight for the benefit of the members of the public.
These allegations and outright fabrications are the product of jaundiced minds, doing the bidding of their paymasters. These allegations are all blowing in the wind and do not add up one bit. They should therefore be discountenanced by all and sundry. If anything, they go a long way to sustain our cardinal position that the detractors in Nasarawa State has absolutely nothing to offer the populace, hence the increasing resort to blackmail aimed at destabilizing the state as a whole.
Hitherto, the same detractors had made strenuous efforts to hoodwink the public that the state government has not achieved anything in office. But realizing that this line of propaganda has failed to make any impact or impression on the people in the light of the overwhelming support and state-wide endorsements being enjoyed by the State Governor, they have, therefore, had to beat a hasty retreat. As evidenced by their latest showing, the issue is now no longer one of non-performance, but that of falsifying the cost of the projects executed or being executed by the State Government!
It is pertinent to state that the award of all contracts under Governor Doma's administration in the past three and half years - be they procurements, services or construction - have always followed an open and transparent process. It should be noted that since the inception of this Administration, the State has always and consistently adhered to the statutory requirements of publishing the audited annual accounts and financial statements of the State. This shows the adherence of the Administration to matters of transparency and accountability in the operation and management of Government affairs. This lofty standard set by the State Government has become a benchmark worthy of emulation.
Events and developments have necessitated the need to draw the attention of the general public against wild speculations and rumours, particularly the ones making the rounds alleging the disappearance of huge sums of money from the coffers of the State Government. These allegations, some of which pertain to the sum of US $89 million Paris Club debt refund made to the State by the Federal Government in December 2007, and another sum of N9 Billion belonging to the State's Local Government Joint Account, both of which are said to have "disappeared" into thin air. These allegations are false in their entirety and bear absolutely no resemblance to reality.
It is on record that the Federal Government of Nigeria made a refund in December 2007 of the sum of US $89 Million which had been wrongly deducted at source from the allocations accruing to the state in respect of Paris Club debt exit. Thus contrary to what they would like the public to believe, this sum was captured in the summary of Capital receipts (Head 410, Sub-Head 5) page 189 of the 2008 budget, and (Head 410, Sub-Head 4) in the 2009 approved budget at page 229. These facts are verifiable since the appropriation laws of the state are public documents which are available to the general public. We further make bold to state that the engagement of consultants to assist the state in the recovery of this fund and the payments thereto, is in compliance with standard and acceptable practice based on negotiated professional charges.
The allegation of the disappearance of the sum of N9 Billion from the state's Local Government Joint Account presents another vista of the abysmal level of ignorance on the part of these questionable characters of government financial management process. The Audited Financial Statements of the Local Governments for the period in question are available for the discerning public. It is to be noted that all monies accruing to Local Governments in the State by way of statutory allocations, VAT and Excess Crude are directly remitted into the State Local Government Joint Account by the Central Bank of Nigeria and disbursed/shared by the Local Governments themselves in accordance with the provisions of the Local Government Law. The expenditure profiles of the local governments are determined by the councils in accordance with their operational requirements with the Ministry of Local Government providing supervisory guidance.
CONCLUSION
In view of the foregoing, the good people of Nasarawa State are invited to discountenance false and baseless information being circulated with the intent of causing disaffection against this Administration.
In the same token, security agencies are requested to watch out and take necessary action against all mischief makers and rumour peddlers who are bent in disrupting of subsisting peace and harmony in the State for their selfish and inordinate ambition.
Signed.
Barr. M. T. Alakayi
Commissioner of Information and Orientation.
