An official of the World Bank, Mrs Abimbola Ogunseitan, says new public financing laws adopted by the Kaduna State Government has made “one-line” budgeting system no longer fashionable in the state.
Abimbola made the remark in Kaduna on Tuesday at the ongoing sensitisation workshop for local council officials in the state.
The three-day workshop on Fiscal Responsibility and Public Finance Laws was organised by the state Ministry of Finance with support from Public Sector Governance Reforms and Development Project.
The workshop, which began Monday, has 130 directorate level staff of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) in the state in attendance.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the event was to sensitise the officials including the newly appointed local councils administrators on the three new public finance laws adopted by the state in 2016.
The laws include: the Public Finance (Control and Management) Law, Public Procurement Law and the Fiscal Responsibility Law.
Ogunseitan said with these laws in place, there was no longer room for cutting corners in budgeting as every kobo must be appropriated and disbursed according to detailed plans.
She said funds accruing to the state must also be paid into the state Treasury Single Account (TSA) to ensure prudence.
“The purpose of the Public Finance Law is to specify the various funds to be operated by the state and how they are to be managed and controlled using the Treasury Single Account (TSA).
“The law established the legal basis for the Treasury Single Account into which all revenues and monies accruing from the Consolidated Revenue Fund would be lodged.
“This include funds from Excess Crude Account, grants or donations and internally generated funds from taxation.”
She explained that fund from the TSA would be used to defray or pay all expenditures incurred.
The official told the participants that only Accountant-General of the state was empowered to invest funds from the TSA.
“The primary objective of a TSA is to ensure effective aggregate control over government cash balances.
“The consolidation of cash resources through a TSA arrangement facilitates government cash management by minimizing borrowing costs.
“In the absence of a TSA, idle balances can be maintained in several bank accounts. Effective aggregate control of cash is also a key element in monetary and budget management,“ she added.
She said the TSA also helps in minimizing transaction costs during budget execution, by controlling the delay in the remittance of government revenues.
According to her, the system facilitates rapid payments of government expenses, reconciliation between banking and accounting data and ensure efficient control and monitoring of funds allocated to MDAs.
Speaking further, the official said: “the purpose of Public Procurement Law 2016 is to establish the Kaduna State Public Procurement Authority.
“The Authority is the regulating body responsible for monitoring, oversight and harmonization of existing policies and setting standards for public procurement in the State.”
Earlier, the Permanent Secretary, state Ministry of Finance, Idris Nyam said the participants would be sensitised to ensure strict compliance with the new laws.
Nyam said government was aware of the manpower challenges in local councils and had made plans to provide solution to ensure effective handling of state funds.
He advised the local council officials to acquire necessary knowledge and skill in information technology to implement the new laws successfully.
According to him the new laws, if well implemented would ensure that government gets value in terms of service delivery to the people.
The permanent secretary believed that proper implementation of the laws would result in better life for the people, and enhance the provision of social services and infrastructure to communities. (NAN)
SSA/MZA