BRAVO PRESIDENT UMARU YAR ADUA OF NIGERIA

BRAVO, PRESIDENT MUSA UMARU YAR ADUA!

Please read this. I believe the Nigerian President Yar Adua is indeed living up to
his declaration that he is a servant leader. This is a sign of accountability which I
think has not been happening before in Nigeria.

NATIONS, ABUJA, NIGERIA Reported by Yusuf Alli Tuesday, 8th January, 2008

Abuja

President Umaru Yar’Adua has returned 1,004,390,265. 36 to the treasury as last year’s unspent funds.

A document exclusively obtained by The Nation shows that the unspent votes, made up of book balances and personnel costs, were remitted to the treasury through two banks.

The banks are Zenith and IBTC Chartered.

The breakdown of the book balances is as follows: Zenith Bank(Main) , N5,972,271.78; IBTC Chartered Bank N160,945,802.17; Zenith Bank(Adhoc), N18,734,275.30; December 2007 allocation, N818,709,914.67.

The personnel costs are N8, 001.44 and N20, 000.00.

A source at the Federal Ministry of Finance in Abuja said the President directed that the funds be returned – in line with his administration’s new fiscal policy.

The source said: "In the past, such votes were usually shared as gifts but the President said this practice should be discontinued.

"This policy of returning funds to the treasury came as a result of the Federal Government’s determination to ensure judicious use of funds.

"The President is also sending a signal to all the tiers of government that they should follow his footsteps."

The Special Adviser to the President (Communications), Mr. Olusegun Adeniyi, confirmed the return of the unspent funds, saying it was in line with the fiscal discipline of the government.

A national daily on Sunday reported that the House of Representatives had returned about N7billion to the treasury.

In December, apart from putting a hold on the award of contracts by ministries and agencies, the Federal Ministry of Finance mopped up unexpended allocations.

Mine Comment:

Hope indeed for Nigeria and Nigerians!

Follow this link for more: http://www.thenationonlineng.com/dynamicpage.asp?id=42171

John Ekundayo
Cornerstone African Congregation
Singapore SE Asia