...as Governor Sule harps on transparency, accountability
From Our Government House Correspondent
Nasarawa State has joined Kaduna and Anambra States to become the third state in the country to upgrade its financial system to the Microsoft Dynamic 365.
This is just as Governor Abdullahi Sule reiterated the determination of his administration to be transparent and accountable.
Governor Sule made this known while officially unveiling the Nasarawa State Payroll System Upgrade, at a ceremony at the Government House, on Tuesday.
According to him, the reason why the new financial system is being introduced in the state is to ensure transparency and accountability in government.
He was optimistic that when fully deployed, the Microsoft Dynamic 365 financial system would completely eliminate ghost workers from the payroll of the government.
Governor Sule said contrary to the generalization suggesting that all state governors are corrupt, he is doing everything possible to inculcate transparency and accountability in government business.
"We are trying as much as possible to be transparent. You can imagine when I sit down sometimes and they categorize all governors as being corrupt. Sometimes, you feel terribly bad. Because you are doing everything possible to be as transparent as you can. You are doing everything to be accountable," he stated.
The Governor recalled that as soon as the state began to received improved federal allocation in July last year, he announced to the members of the executive council about the development.
He recalled also that he prevailed on local government areas in the state to start saving part of their funds and that they are now able to pay the six months palliative to their staff and pensioners, unlike before when the councils were living from hands to mouth.
"The moment we started receiving improvement in our revenue as of July last year, I was the one that announced to our exco that we are beginning to receive improved revenue. I forced the local government to start saving. Now, it's out of their savings that they are able to pay the palliative. If not, the local governments were living from hand to mouth.
"But sometimes, in the morning, you will see why are governors touching local government money? And so you feel bad because you are trying everything to do the opposite. But somebody is accusing you because he is generalizing it. That is the reason why we are introducing all these ideas of transparency and accountability so that the state will be able to save money," he added.
He also spoke on the opportunity being provided by the new financial system for the state to actually take ownership of its payroll and data, noting however that there must first be an intensive training to domicile the processes and operations of the Microsoft Dynamic financial system among indigenes of the state.
"The Accountant General has consistently spoken about taking ownership of the payroll and data. The only way we can truly take ownership is when there is adequate training and that all our own people are properly trained," he said.
Governor Sule however insisted that only young persons from the state who have the future ahead of them, should be identified and trained because that is the only way the state can properly benefit.
"What you can do is to bring young people to do the actual training because if you bring old people like us who will be leaving few years from now, you will train people who are not going to benefit the state. It's better to train young people who have the whole world before them, and the state will be able to gain more from them," he added.
The Governor equally decried the cumbersome method used in filing government documents, stressing that the new financial system will reduce paperwork to the bearest minimum.
He however pointed out tye new financial system being introduce will only succeed if the people accept it and willingly comply with the new system.
"I am begging you, let's use the opportunity. It's an expensive ERP. We are paying for this so that it can benefit the state," he said.
He called on the young persons identified to manage the process of capturing the biometrics to put the fear of God in the discharge of their responsibility.
"I am so excited to see very young faces who are really driving it. Drive it between you and your own God to make sure we capture who we are supposed to capture. Any ghost worker that is coming at night to be captured, you have no idea," he added.
Earlier, in his opening remarks, State Accountant General, Ahmed Musa Mohammad, disclosed that three companies bid for the project, with Nagwaram Nigeria Limited being successful based on the advice from the Nasarawa State Bureau for Public Procurement.
The Accountant General further disclosed that the project, which is meant to upgrade the state's biometric, payroll, and financial reporting system was delayed to allow it to be captured in this year's appropriation.
"What we have today is a system where your NIN and BVN are not captured. We have biometrics now. The most important thing is that it will be efficient. There will be data visibility, standardization, and regulatory compliance. The issue of ghost workers is completely eliminated on the payroll, especially since now we will have NIN and BVN captured for all the staff," he said.
He said it's gratifying to note that only Kaduna State and Anambra State have evolved this system in the country.
"We are happy to say that Nasarawa State is the third in Nigeria to bring in this Microsoft Dynamic 365, which is the modern trend financially in the whole world today," he added.
He pointed out that the company handling the upgrade has 120 days to complete its assignment.
In his remarks, Mubarak Ishaq Ibrahim, General Manager, Nagwaram Nigeria Limited, said the first aim of the upgrade is to ensure that the problems emanating from the human resources are eliminated, with financials after the payroll is being processed going seamlessly to the general ledgers.
Ibrahim highlighted various processes that would be put in place for the new financial system to work perfectly in Nasarawa State.
He explained that the upgrade will entail the capture of biometrics of all civil servants and political appointees in the state.
The highpoint of the unveiling of the new financial system was the biometric capture of Governor Sule.
