The Bayelsa State Government has restated its resolve towards ensuring accountability and prudence in the management and deployment of financial accruals to the state.
The Government stated this during the monthly ‘Transparency briefing’ held in Yenagoa, the state capital on Thursday, June 1st, to render the state’s financial report for February and March, 2023.
Rendering the financial report, the state Commissioner for Finance, Mr Maxwell Ebibai, indicated that statutory allocation stood at N2.222b, derivation, N14.021b, VAT, N 2.683b, first non-oil revenue, N 623m, 2nd non-oil revenue, N 93.5m, electronic money transfer levy was N 125.4m.
He said refund of VAT stood at N 55.5m, while total inflow from the federation account allocation committee(FAAC), stood at N19.826m, respectively.
Ebibai also said deductions from FAAC for February were N 2.4b, while total net inflow stood at N 17 .423billion.
According to the Commissioner, the state also raked in N 1.093b from internally generated revenue(IGR), and that ecological fund transfers to the state in February were N 79m, while refunds for excess crude was N3.876billion, making the sum total accruals for the month to be N 22.472billion.
He noted that expenses incurred in February were: Civil Servants salaries, N 4.387billion, bank loans, N 1.650billion, salaries of political appointees, N 551m, gratuity, N1 billion, grants to higher institutions of learning of the state, N 961m, ten percent contribution to salaries of primary school Teachers in the state, N 86m.
Further more, the Commissioner stressed that additional contribution to salaries of Teachers of public primary schools in the state was N117m, while minimum wage arrears was, N 50m, whereas the Government transfer of 50% refunds to the NDDC from the state in February stood at N 39.5m, and 5% contribution from its IGR to the State loans board was N 51.5m.
He noted also that charges from the state account maintenance in February, was N 13.5m, and that total payment incurred for recurrent expenditure stood at N 9.087billion, leaving the state with a balance of N13.384b.
The Government stated that total amount incurred as payment for capital expenditure in February stood at N 16.014billion.
The Tide reports that the Commissioner for Finance stated that in March, the state had a negative balance of N5.975 billion, which was only made good by the balance brought forward from February, leaving a closing balance of N3.887 billion.
Earlier in his opening speech, Commissioner for Information, Orientation and Strategy, Hon. Ayibaina Duba, scored the administration of Governor Diri high on its meticulous and prudential deployment of resources for the execution of infrastructural projects and other programmes in the state.
He noted that from the inception of the Governor Diri-led ‘Prosperity’ administration to date, the Governor has demonstrated willingness to fast-track the developmental processes of the state.
Duba restated Government’s resolve towards completing all ongoing infrastructural projects, maintaining that with Governor Diri at the helms of affairs of the state, Bayelsa can only be even better for it.
”Governor Diri has over and over again demonstrated the willingness and resolve to develop this state inspite of the dwindling allocations and other accruals to the state. But I want to again, assure all Bayelsans that no ongoing infrastructural project would be left stalled in this state by this administration”, he said.

By: Ariwera Ibibo-Howells,
Yenagoa