Alleged N10 Billion Furniture Expenditure: ..It Was A  Mistake, Only N596 Million Spent – Kano Govt

By Suleiman Anyalewechi

The Kano State Government has strongly disputed claims that it expended a whopping sum of N10 billion on the provisions of office furniture and other accessories in one year.

The denial comes on the heels of an online publication that said the State authorities wasted such sum on office equipment at a time hunger and deprivation are over- running the larger populace .

But in an official reaction late on Tuesday, July 30, the authorities said it only spent N596 million on office furniture between the first and second quarter of the 2024 fiscal year.

It blamed the huge figures being bandied about in a section of the media on printer’s devil that occurred in the report on the second quarter performance of the budget that was published on July 28.

A statement issued by Governor Abba  Yusuf’s media aide Sanusi Bature Dawakin Tofa, therefore, urged the public to discountenance the report on the purported spending of N10 billion on office furniture.

The authorities noted that it places high premium on budget realism to achieve clear openness, transparency and accountability in governance.

It stated that the figure of N10 billion which was mistakenly ascribed to the provision of furniture in the second quarter report was actually expended on the payments of contractual liabilities and other expenses incurred by previous administrations in the State.

Below is the full text of the Kano State Government’s  rebuttal of the publication on the outrageous spending.

“The state Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning has just released the second quarter budget performance report on the 28th of July, 2024 and has mistakenly tempered with the figures which has generated avoidable reactions.

“It should be noted that the timely release of the report shows unwavering commitment of the government in making available to stakeholders, the information on all expenditures as promised to the good people of Kano during the electioneering campaign.

“Unfortunately, the second quarter report was erroneously submitted with a mix up in the template as data for payment of over ten billion naira (N10b) was used for payment of contractors’s liabilities and other expenses incurred by previous administrations.

“The payment was done majorly to clear the backlog of indigenous contractors who were faced with challenges of bank loans and to enable them settle their debt burdens and help them go back to thier normal businesses.” Sanusi Bature explained”.

For the recond, first quarter of 2024 gulfed the sum of two hundred and ninety five million, eight hundred and twenty seven thousand, sixty two naira, eighty seven kobo (N295, 827, 062.87) while the sum of three hundred million, seven hundred and fifty million, five hundred naira (N300, 755, 500k8) was spent during the 2024 second quarter on furniture and office fittings for various Ministries, Department and Agencies respectively.

A total of five hundred and ninety six million, five hundred and eighty two thousand, five hundred and sixty two naira, eighty seven kobo (N596, 582, 562.87) was spent from January to July, 2024 as against the purported ten billion naira. The Account General would make available, the information on request by any organization because it is not hidden or secret at all” said Sanusi Bature Dawakin Tofa

The amount spent on refurbishment of offices, furniture and fittings at various MDAs is not up to 5 per cent of was purportedly reported. The misleading information in the report was revalidated by the Office of the Accountant General of the state after series of media enquiries.

The state regrets any inconvenience from the report to all stakeholders, including development partners, financial institutions and government agencies. It was as a result of the inability of the  officials responsible for reporting the budget performance to validate the data in their  custody”.

The Governor cautioned all data managers and handlers to maintain high level of  professionalism in their responsibilities  noting that Government will not tolerate  sharing of unreliable data on its activities.

The Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning is directed to review with immediate effort, the template of budget performance report in accordance with reliable date at its disposal and ensure no future misrepresentation occur, the statement emphasized.

Signed

Sanusi Bature Dawakin Tofa
Director General, Media and Publicity, Government House, Kano