The Federal Government on Wednesday announced the disbursement of N43.416 billion (USD120.6 million) as performance-based grant to 24 States under the performance-based grant component of the World Bank-Assisted States Fiscal Transparency, Accountability and Sustainability (SFTAS) Programme.
Zainab Ahmed, Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, explained that the disbursement was on the basis of the results achieved in 2018 under the performance-based grant component of the World Bank-Assisted States Fiscal Transparency, Accountability and Sustainability (SFTAS) Programme-for-Results which is wholly-financed with a loan amount of USD750 million from the International Development Association (IDA), a member of the World Bank Group.
The 24 beneficiary states which met the eligibility criteria 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 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),” Ahmed said in a statement signed by Hassan Dodo, the Ministry’s Director of Press and Public Relations.
The SFTAS Programme was established by the Federal Government of Nigeria with the concessional loan of USD750 million to support States through the provision of performance-based grants to States 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), which is the programme results.
As contained in the statement, 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 minister further said that the eligibility criteria for states include; an online publication of the approved annual budget and audited financial statement for the previous year; improved financial reporting and budget reliability; increased openness and citizens’ engagement in the budget process.
Others are improved cash management and reduced revenue leakages through 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; improved procurement practices for increased transparency and value for money; strengthened public debt management and fiscal responsibility framework; improved clearance/reduction of stock of domestic expenditure arrears and improved debt sustainability.
She reiterated that the World Bank-assisted SFTAS Programme is principally to strengthen fiscal management at the State level
inorder 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 programme 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”, Ahmed noted.
States which were declared ineligible for 2018 failed to publish their annual budgets and audited financial statements online within the time frame as stipulated by the SFTAS Programme Operation Manual (POM).
The 12 States that missed out on the 2018 grants having failed to meet the Eligibility Criteria are; Akwa Ibom, Anambra,Bayelsa, Borno, Cross River, Ebonyi, Imo, Lagos, Nasarawa, Plateau, Rivers and Zamfara States.
However, the SFTAS Programme accommodates different starting points, hence the 12 States can still participate in the 2019,2020 and 2021 respective performance years by meeting the EC and DLIs in the said years.
“The total sum of (N43,416,000,000.00) USD120.6 Million has thus far been disbursed to the qualified 24 States based on their performance.
Kaduna State achieved the highest number of results (nine) and got the highest share with N3,960,000,000.00, while Katsina and Benue got the lowest amount of N540,000,000.00 each”.
Cynthia Egboboh, Abuja.
