Kaduna Gets Largest In FG’s N43.4bn Performance Grants.
AMINA HUSSAINI, Abuja
The federal government has disbursed N43.416 billion or $120.6 million grants to 24 best performing states of which Kaduna alone got N3.96 billion having been adjudged the best among the beneficiaries.
The grant was disbursed based on the 2018 performance-based component of the World Bank-Assisted States Fiscal Transparency, Accountability, and Sustainability (SFTAS) Programme-for-Results program. The program is financed with $750 million from the International Development Association (IDA), a member of the World Bank Group.
The program commenced in 2018 during which only 24 States met the eligibility criteria. The remaining 12 states were disqualified for their failure to publish their annual budgets and audited financial statements online within the time frame as stipulated by the SFTAS Programme Operation Manual (POM).
The eligible 24 states are Abia, Adamawa, Bauchi, Benue, Delta, Edo, Ekiti, Enugu, Gombe, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Kogi, Kwara, Niger, Ondo, Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Sokoto, Taraba and Yobe States.
The 12 States that missed out on the 2018 grants are Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Bayelsa, Borno, Cross River, Ebonyi, Imo, Lagos, Nasarawa, Plateau, Rivers and Zamfara States. They can still participate in the 2019,2020 and 2021 respective performance years by meeting the EC and DLIs in the said years.
Minister of Finance, Budget, and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed said the assessment was undertaken by government auditors from which the 24 states and their scores emerged.
“ The disbursement followed the participation of the 24 eligible States in the recent Annual Performance Assessment (APA) carried out by the Office of the Auditor-General for the Federation (OAuGF) as the Independent Verification Agent (IVA) in collaboration with a third-party firm, JK Consulting Limited and the SFTAS Programme Coordination Unit (PCU).
“A total N43.416 billion or $120.6 million has so far been disbursed to the 24 states that are qualified based on their performance. Kaduna State scored Nine, the highest and accordingly, got the highest share with N3.96 billion while Katsina and Benue got the lowest amount of N540 million each”.
The SFTAS Programme was established by the federal government with the concessional loan of $750 million to support states through the provision of performance-based grants to the tune of $700 million, and technical assistance in the sum of $50 million to enhance their capacity to achieve the Disbursement Linked Indicators (DLIs) i.e. the Programme results.
The DLIs are derived from the country’s 22-Point Fiscal Sustainability Plan and the 14 Open Government Partnership (OGP) commitments aimed at strengthening fiscal transparency, accountability, and sustainability across all States of the Federation.
The Eligibility Criteria (EC) includes the online publication of the approved annual budget and audited financial statement for the previous year; and the DLIs that eligible states receive grants for achieving: improved financial reporting and budget reliability; increased openness and citizens’ engagement in the budget process; improved cash management and reduced revenue leakages through the implementation of State Treasury Single Account (TSA); strengthened Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) collection; biometric registration and Bank Verification Number (BVN) used to reduce payroll fraud.
Others are improved procurement practices for increased transparency and value for money; strengthened public debt management and fiscal responsibility framework; improved clearance/reduction of the stock of domestic expenditure arrears; and improved debt sustainability.
The World Bank-assisted SFTAS Programme is principally to strengthen fiscal management at the state level so as to ensure effective mobilization and utilization of financial resources to the benefit of their citizens in a transparent, accountable and sustainable manner, thereby reducing fiscal risks and encouraging a common set of fiscal behaviours.
“The SFTAS program couldn’t have come at a better time than now given the dwindling government revenue occasioned by oil price volatility coupled with the current impact of COVID-19 which has further intensified the need for improved practices in fiscal transparency, accountability and sustainability as enunciated in the SFTAS ideals”she observed.
Comments are closed.