Rivers State Governor, Sir. Siminalayi Fubara, has said that his administration operates a transparent accounting system disclosing that the state’s Internally-Generated Revenue (IGR) increased from about N13bn to N27bn monthly.

Fubara spoke when he played host to the leadership and members of the House of Representatives Committee on Public Accounts in Government House in Port Harcourt on Friday.

The governor in a statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary (CPS), Nelson Chukwudi, recalled that when he was appointed the Accountant-General in 2020, he changed the public accounting reporting position of the state because he understood the numbers and how to clearly present the details.

He said that a culture of prudence and transparency had been maintained as he assumed governorship of the state despite the challenges that had confronted his administration.

Fubara noted that in managing the finances, the increased IGR of the state was being judiciously deployed to deliver on the core target areas of his administration.

He said the government inherited 52,000 civil servants and a wage bill of about N5.3bn but added that bill had increased to about N8bn because of the ongoing implementation of promotion arrears.

He said:  “As an organised Government, when we came on board, we met a very big challenge. For 11 years, there was no promotion in this State Civil Service. So, imagine a Government that inherited about 52,000 civil servants, and you want to pay them for years that they had been denied their dues.

“What we were paying before I came in was an average of N5.3billion. Let us even do 25 percent of it: it can’t be anything less than 8 point something billion that we are doing now. That was what we started paying.

“How much is our allocation? So, we needed to think outside the box. That was where we now did a rejig of our Internally Generated Revenue. And I can tell you today that all the projects we are doing, we don’t borrow.“We are very transparent. We are not hiding anything. That is why I boldly would say it. The least we do this period is N26billion – N27billion. The highest they were doing before was N12billion – N13billion.”

Fubara emphasised that everything would be done to apply the funds in areas that bring positive change in improving education, healthcare and agriculture in the state.

He said: “We will also do a few roads but the most important things are these three sectors. That is the only way we can save ourselves from this present situation of hardship. Save ourselves from the issues of societal ill: you call it cultism and others.

“Education is the only instrument we can use to fight social vices. And we need quality healthcare. You need to be alive to even drive a good car on the roads. You can imagine how much we spend on medical tourism.

“Then, agriculture: we have to ensure food security and sufficiency. We have to feed ourselves to tame hunger. So, those are the targets of this government.”

The governor assured that no matter the challenges facing his administration, his eyes would still be on the ball, and will not lose focus.

He said: “We have promised our people that our government will be for the people. We care for the people. The people are more important to us. When you have the people, you have everything.

“It doesn’t matter the high and mighty, the number of policemen that you carry around. The people are most important. Because the people are the ones who, in their sub-units, control people who at the end, make the decisions when the time comes.

“It is not the policemen. It is not the army. It is not the escorts. It is the people. So, our concern is how to meet the needs of the people.”

In his address, Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Public Accounts, Bamidele Salam, said they were in the state for the first retreat of the committee.

Salam pointed out that they chose the State because it was peaceful, and had a governor, who understood what governance truly meant and had never been distracted by the political crisis confronting his administration.

He commended the governor for achieving over 26 projects in his first 100 days in office and urged him to continue to deliver dividends of democracy to Rivers people.

About 36 members of the committee, their aides and the retreat consultants were on the delegation for the visit.

END.