Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) has awarded Bauchi State Governor, Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed ICAN Accountability and Transparency Index for the 2021 assessment year.
This was revealed in a statement signed by the Governor’s Special Adviser on Media, Mukhtar Gidado on Monday.
The award was presented to the Governor by the President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria ( ICAN ) Mallam Tijjani Musa, at the public presentation and Award held on Monday 22nd May, 2023 at the Council Chambers of the Institute in Victoria Island , Lagos.
According to the statement, Governor Mohammed was nominated alongside Four other Governors in appreciation of their dogged performance towards the progress and financial development of their respective states during the period under review.
The ICAN President commended Governor Bala Mohammed and his dynamic Team of professional Accountants for their outstanding commitment, extraordinary performance and high sense of accountability and transparency which they brought to bear in administering the public finances of Bauchi State .
According to him, the administration of Governor Bala Mohammed has during the period of assessment introduced various public service reforms to improve fiscal discipline in public procurement, debt management and implementation of the fiscal responsibility law to specifically and most importantly eliminate , block leakages and waste in the implementation of capital budget .
Musa added that, other indicators used in measuring the Bala Mohammed’s administration is the newly introduced Treasury Single Account (TSA) tax administration which assisted in drastically eliminating multiple taxation and shoring of additional sources of revenue in the State.
“Additionally , the phenomenal growth in IGR , the transparency in reporting collectible revenue and its application in solving the problems of the state represent , again , another major reason.
“Furthermore, regular payment of counterpart funds , one of the hallmarks of the Bala Mohammed’s administration has earned the State regular inclusion in the programs of the Federal Government and several development partners, as the financial partners have developed greater confidence in the State’s ability to meet its obligations.
“Similarly , with the support of a team of committed technocrats , politicians, patriotic stakeholders, key traditional rulers , the administration has created a new narrative in service delivery in the State. These people oriented development programs are spread across the State, in terms of infrastructure and human development in the areas of roads construction , rehabilitation of critical urban and rural roads , Health , Education Agriculture, massive housing projects , Water supply as well as youth and women empowerment”.
The variables according to ICAN stimulate sustained economic growth, enhances accountability, transparency, ease of doing business and reduce corrupt practices which ensured fiscal discipline in the public service of Bauchi State.
Governor Bala Mohammed was represented at the event by the State Accountant General Dr, Sa’idu Abubakar, accompanied by the Special Adviser Media to the Governor, Comrade Mukhtar Gidado.
In his vote of thanks after receiving the award, Dr Sa’idu Abubakar commended the Governing Board of ICAN for the recognition and honour done to the entire people of Bauchi.
He said Bauchi State is indeed deeply elated to rank 3rd on the ICAN -AI Assessment of 2021 and described it as a huge leapfrog from the rank of 20th in the 2020 report, which was an evidence that the State is doing the right thing that strive to surpass the previous performance.
He assured ICAN that the Award will further ginger the Governor to do more in ensuring accountability and transparency in governance as the Bauchi State Government has proposed commitment to ICAN’s Students Special Project.
Goodwill messages were delivered by relevant Stakeholders that include : International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) , Association of certified chartered Accountants (ACCA), Association of Accountancy Bodies in West Africa (ABWA) and representatives of State Governors.
The chairman , Board of Past presidents of the institute Dr. (Sir) Ike Nwokolo , OFR with some other notable past presidents of the institute attended the event.
