Gombe  Leads in Implementation of USAID’s Accountability Task

Segun Awofadeji in Gombe 

The Gombe State Governor, Mr. Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya, has said that his administration would continue to strengthen internal control mechanisms and sustain its progress reforms to improve governance outcomes and enhance accountability and efficiency in service delivery. 

This is even as the governor was warmly acknowledged and commended for keying in and leading the way in driving forward reforms in governance and in the implementation of the Nigeria State Accountability, Transparency and Effectiveness Activity ( State2State)of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

The State2State Activity supports strengthened governance structures in Gombe and five other states to improve their ability to plan and budget, raise revenues, increase civil society participation, and oversee service delivery in the health, education, and water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) sectors.

Yahaya, who was a special guest of honour and panelist at a high level discussion tagged “Federal Policy Dialogue Series,” with the theme “Post State Fiscal Transparency, Accountability and Sustainably ( SFTAS) Incentivising Reforms” held at  the Transcorp Hilton Hotel,  Abuja, yesterday, said his administration is implementing major reforms in several key areas including those that have traction with State2State’s key sectors, especially education,  health and governance. 

He said: “Implementing reforms may be quite tasking and daunting but we are doing our best in this regard. Thankfully, we have the development plan for Gombe State (DEVAGOM) 2021 – 2030, which the blueprint guiding us in accelerating reforms with actionable implementation mechanisms for sustainable growth and development.

“We worked through our state PFM institutions to ensure that we meet all the requirements of SFTAS- we are utilising the training received by State2State to consolidate our reforms. Gombe has been among the 5 top states on SFTAS for three years running.”

He said “because of State2State intervention, through capacity building of our staff, we expanded revenue base and raised more Internally Generated Revenue (IGR). We have also reinvigorated the Due Process Office in line with our procurement law and strengthened the Fiscal Responsibility Commission for effective governance.” .

Speaking further, the governor said that his administration has also established the Bureau for Public Service Reforms (BPSR) in 2019 to ensure the successful implementation of its public service reform agenda.

“So far we have engaged in reforms, difficult as they may be,  but we are trying to make sure that we change the situation for the better; we made promises to our people and that we cannot do without good governance, transparency and accountability.”

Noting that reforms are supposed to be sustainable, Inuwa advised that the gains of SFTAS must not be left to fizzle out, suggesting that a follow up programme be initiated to entrench the successes recorded. 

The Governor of Sokoto State, Mr. Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, and the representatives of Governors of Ebonyi, Adamawa, Bauchi, Akwa Ibom States also shared their views on the topic of discussion, opining that the State2State activity has impacted positively in their respective states. 

There were goodwill messages from the USAID Country Director, the Chief of Party and other department partners.