Governance reforms working in Yobe – Gov. Gaidam

By Paul Efiong

Gov. Ibrahim Gaidam has said that the governance reform initiatives adopted and implemented by his administration are “responsible for the tremendous change in the development landscape of the state characterized by rapid expansion of basic infrastructure and services and improvement in the living conditions of the people”.
The reforms adopted by the government, he said, have also resulted in repositioning the institutions of government, thereby aligning them to the agenda of “placing Yobe on the path to socio-economic greatness”.
The governor spoke today at the opening of a retreat for senior public servants in the state, including commissioners, special advisers, permanent secretaries and general managers, amongst others.
“As a result of our collaborative effort with development partners, including the UK Department for International Development (DFID),
United States Agency for International Development (USAID), etc., we have made significant impact on our governance system resulting in numerous successes, including the adoption of Result-Based Management (RBM) System to guide the state development plan popularly called YOSERA, institutionalizing Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) for tracking budget performance, adoption of budget classification and Chart of Accounts (which is IPSAS cash and accrual compliant), and development of Medium Term Sector Strategies (MTSS), Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and Medium-Term Fiscal Framework (MTFF) for financing the various sector plans”, the governor said.
Gov. Gaidam added that all ministries, departments and agencies in the state now mandatorily comply with due process and with the standards of the accountability, transparency and prudence as a result of the determination of the government to improve governance in the state.
The governor lauded the one-day retreat which was organized by the office of secretary to the state government, saying it will help “renew our resolve to serve the state better and take full responsibility for driving all our reform efforts to greater heights by raising the bar for others to emulate”.
The governor noted that as his administration comes to an end in May 2019, 2018 will be a year critical to consolidating the gains made so far in repositioning the public service and public financial management in the state as well as in completing ongoing projects and executing new ones.
The Secretary to the State Government, Baba Mallam Wali said his office organized the retreat to provide a platform for participants and resource persons ‘rub minds’, saying such cross-fertilization of ideas will help the participants to internalize governance best practices and embrace reforms.