A culture of transparency and accountability: The Yobe Model
By Sani Mohammed, Damaturu

Introduction
THE Yobe State Ministry of Finance and Economic Development is statutorily charged with the disbursement of funds for the overall pursuit and execution of the functions and duties of government. In this Special Report, we offer you an insight into this Ministry, where innovations and modern approach to management as demonstrated by the new commissioner, ultimately promotes the actualisation of this common goal.

Governor Abba Aji of Yobe State

Alhaji Garba Maidugu, the current Commissioner for Finance and Economic Development Yobe State is reputed as a politician with overwhelming grassroots backing. He is simple in outlook, upright in character and imbued with a fascinating rural disposition. A man who has great love for his people has been a full-time politician since 1979.

An erudite scholar and former lecturer at the Borno State Polytechnic, a.k.a Ramat Poly, he was the Commissioner for Integrated Rural Development– a ministry he administered for just a brief period before his present appointment. As a young lecturer, Maidugu maintained a level-headed disposition until he proceeded to the United States of America (USA) to further his education.

As a seasoned administrator, the finance expert had worked in many places within the public and the private sectors of both Borno and Yobe States– a factor which provided him with the much needed experiences to turn things around in Yobe's Ministry of Finance.

Politically, Maidugu has been a very patient man. For example, he had clear chances to mount the state's gubernatorial stool during the days of the defunct United Nigeria Congress Party (UNCP) in 1997, but he could not make it; in 1998, similar fate befell him. So when in 2003, fortune turned his face against him once again the genial commissioner knew that God still wants him to be patient.

Accounting experts have often submitted that it is difficult to combine the attributes of an Accountant with basic human simplicity. If one tries it, it is said, “either the job suffers, or the individual's simplicity would”. Maidugu may have broken the jinx, however, despite having continued to tie the management rope tighter than he met it, his approach is still considered popular among Yobe indigenes.

General Administration
In the wake of the new administration in the Ministry, a culture of orderliness has been entrenched into the operational parameters of the Ministry. For example, the crowded nature of the finance headquarters in Damaturu, the state capital, which impeded smooth operations of the ministry is today a matter of history. Distractions arising from the activities of visitors to the Headquarters, has been minimised by the new policy of checks and self-identification at the main gate. Apart from regulating the number of visitors to the office, criminal activities have also been curbed.

Budget and Planning
It is important to raise popular awareness, participation and support for the implementation of a budget, moreso that in a democratic dispensation, like the one we in place today. This is firmly rooted in the concept of popular participation of the citizenry in public affairs.

The idea of public awareness on the implementation of the budget is predicated on our experiences either as accounting officers, or outside the accounting profession. The new administration under Maidugu had pledged that the budget document would act as a policy handbook that should guide the activities of government.

Indeed, to Maidugu, a budget in addition to being a statement of the expected revenue and expenditure within a particular fiscal year, is also the most comprehensive public policy document of a government. This is because, public policy is substantially a reflection of what is enshrined in a government budget. He believes, therefore, that unlike non-democratic situations, the democratic set up demands the full implementation of the budget passed into law and so the government has the legal and social obligation to implement it. Consequently, a social obligation to understand the budget fully and consciously participate in its actualisation is of utmost concern.

In the ministry, the actual funds for Recurrent and Capital Expenditures are, notably, tied to the allocation from the federation account on monthly basis. The implementation of such budget estimates, therefore, is conditioned more by the vagaries of the global oil market than by other factors. The major sources of this income is well-known, the revenue from oil, supported by the state's share of Value Added Tax (VAT) and the locally generated revenue.

The major performance of Maidugu's regime in the Ministry has been in the area of budget monitoring and control as he has always insisted that monitoring is the major determinant of the progress recorded in the execution of projects– just as it also facilitates an easy assessment of the effectiveness and efficiency of the funds disbursed on such projects. He believes also that funds released should be commensurate with physical achievements on the ground.

Most times, therefore the commissioner ensures that there is strict adherence to the principles of financial control, by ensuring that disbursements for public expenditure are strictly in line with budget specifics. For instance, the Auditor General is vested with the responsibility of ensuring that funds disbursed are promptly and appropriately accounted for, through ensuring that prescribed accounting procedures are strictly adhered to.

To make sure that the Executive branch protected from incurring the wrath of the legislature, Malam Maidugu ensures that funds are used for purposes for which they are intended; used judiciously and efficiently and that commitments and expenditure do not exceed approved amounts. In addition, he ensures that activities not approved by Government are not pursued or executed with approved funds.

Fund Control
Fund control is exercised through Appropriation Monitoring and Financial Statements. In the Yobe Finance Ministry, appropriation starts with the issuance of warrants and continues through assessing whether actual expenditures have been justified, in relation to proposed programmes and activities during the budget period. Unlike some other states, monitoring of such programmes and activities is vested on the Secretary to the State Government, as the Ministry of Finance is more involved in the monitoring of legislative appropriation.

Government Financial Statement in the state is the second strategy of funds control. Such financial statements provide a general picture of the financial well-being or otherwise of the state. They also serve as working beacons to policy makers, public servants who execute government policies and the general public. Here, the office of the Accountant General is vested with the responsibility of preparing all government accounting statements.

Expenditure Control
In Yobe, this is called “vote control,” and the ultimate responsibility for the control of votes rests on the shoulders of the Permanent Secretaries' who are the Accounting officers of their respective ministries and government departments. They are also entrusted with the expenditure of public funds which fall within the head and sub-heads of their individual ministries.

Permanent Secretaries in the state on their own part have delegated the day-to-day control of expenditure to subordinate officers who are charged with the control of votes, as specified in the financial instruction handbook. Such officers have over the years been responsible for monitoring the expenditure of their ministries, to ensure that it tallies with the amount in the estimates.

Presently, Ministries and Departments through “the Returns on Recurrent Expenditure and Returns on Capital Expenditure,” which are rendered monthly, make vote control reports. The delay in rendering such reports has been properly managed by Maidugu's policy of not releasing funds, until returns are made. His policy is that any delay experienced in making returns to the Finance Ministry would subsequently delay the release of funds to the Ministries and other establishments.

Yobe's Expanded Programme on Revenue Generation
More than ever before, the need for the Yobe State Government to expand its revenue base has become imperative. This is in order to realise more money to finance its numerous programmes promised the people. In the Financial Year 2001, for instance, the revenue from internal sources rose by about 28 per cent, from a near-stagnant figure of N135 million. It is interesting to note that increase in revenue profile of the state had maintained that level until recently when a 31 per cent increase was recorded as part of Maidugu's management exploits.

Conventionally, the primary sources of revenue for the state are three: funds from the Federation Account, Capital receipts (Loans-local or foreign) and internally generated revenue (IGR). While allocation from the Federation Account fluctuates due mainly to vagaries of the international oil market, funds from capital receipts are a subject of cumbersome paper and legal work, such that it is not an easy finance option for the State Government, leaving the internally generated revenue to supplement the shortfalls in the monthly grants for the execution of government programmes.

The internal sources of generating funds in Yobe State are broadly categorised into two-those provided by the Personal Income Tax Act (PITA), which include the Pay As You Earn (PAYE), With- holding Tax, Road Tax and Business Premises Registration. The second source is revenue from services provided by ministries and parastatals.

Desirous to expand the revenue from internal sources, the Yobe State Government had earlier reviewed upward the cost of vehicle number plates as well as opened up a spectrum of revenue generating outlets at the local government level. But while it is doing so, one of the commissioner's major concerns has been how to achieve maximum revenue generation, without unnecessarily strangulating the social environment.

On assumption of office, the new commissioner had taken to task three major areas which is believed to add to the revenue margin of the state. The establishment of enforcement programmes which include an incorporation of existing tax laws. Second, a committee has been established within the ministry to enforce provisions of section 95 and 96(i) of the Personal Income Tax Laws. Thirdly, the review of all rates, fees and licences charged by ministries and parastatals for services they provide. This is because the former rates were not in consonance with present-day economic realities.

Clearly, measures so far taken to boost internally generated revenue are widely being commended nationwide, especially as a new and rural state such as Yobe became a a pioneer of sorts by venturing into the capital market. The State Government had in 2003 raised about N2.5 billion on terms and conditions that are acceptable and favourable to both the state and the lenders.

Departmental Performances

To effectively discharge the functions and duties assigned to it, the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development is structured into the following department: Personnel and Administration, Planning, Research and Statistics, Finance and Supply and, of course, the Office of the Accountant General.

The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry oversees the personnel and administration, planning, research and statistics and the finance and supply department, while the State's Accountant General oversees the following: Directorate of Treasury Operations; Directorate of Computer and Final Accounts; Directorate of Internal Audit and Inspectorate. Within the period under review, these departments and directorates have achieved lots of accolade.

For instance, the Directorate of Personnel Management which is charged with the responsibility of co-ordinating the general administration of the ministry has achieved the following: appointment of new officers, promotion of more than 50 staffers, discipline of staff; disbursement of loans which range from car refurbishing to housing in conjunction with the office of the Accountant General; renting of private houses to augment existing residential and office accommodation; representing the ministry on the governing council of State-owned boards and parastatals and staff welfare and training.

The Directorate of Finance and Supplies as an integral part of the Finance Ministry is charged with the responsibility of receipts and expenditures. This Directorate which reports to the Permanent Secretary, pays staff salaries and allowances of all the staff, from Grade level 07 and above. It also handles the salaries of Auditors of all ministries, departments, boards and parastatals who were integrated into the ministry as a result of the pooling system.

The Directorate among other functions, also controls the stores, maintenance of motor vehicles, office furniture and equipment, purchase and supply of stationeries as well as preparation of Annual Draft Estimate of the ministry.

The Office of the Accountant General
This office is responsible for the receipts of all Government revenues and ensures that all approved payments are made in accordance with financial instructions and other regulations guiding the disbursement of funds. It is also the mandate of the office to ensure that Government Accounts are prepared and submitted for auditing at the end of each financial year. At the completion of such audit exercise, the Accountant General issues statutory report on such Accounts.

Other functions of the office of the Accountant General include provideing efficient and effective accounting services to enable Government carry out its development programmes, monitors and ensure effective compliance with established financial instructions in the utilisation of Government funds, provide timely and accurate financial management information to Government for effective decision-making.

It also ensures adequate training and control of Accounting personnel within the state service, receives all revenue due to the State Government, in conjunction with the Revenue Board and other agencies, and prepares the State's Final Accounts at the end of each financial year and submits same for Auditing.

The Accountant General's office also issues statutory reports on audited reports of the State Government. As stated earlier, the office is divided into three Directorates, namely Directorate of Treasury Operations, Directorate of Final Accounts and Computer and the Directorate of Internal Audit and Inspectorate.

Conclusion
In as much as these Departments and Directorates play their statutory role(s) which is perhaps reflective in any Ministry of Finance, they have wonderfully weaved these obligations into a number of management innovations that do not only speed up the attainment of the over- all goals, but have been so tailored to curb excesses and reduce fraud.

Each department is thus administered by personnel whose stubborn desire to achieve gives Yobe State the benefit of recording very small incidences of financial mishap. This is ostensibly why, in discussing about the laudable achievements of Maidugu, the success story may be incomplete without mentioning the contributions of all the Departmental Heads.