Sanwo-Olu: Why governors must cut down on waste, excesses

Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has advised his colleague-governors to cut down on waste and excesses.

He said this is the only way to ensure that every unit of surviving expenditure delivers maximum value and impact, for the benefit of the populace.

To him, the ultimate goals must be value for money, and the enhancement of the quality and timeliness of service delivery.

Sanwo-Olu spoke on Monday at the National Council on Finance and Economic Development (NACOFED) Conference held in Lagos.

According to the governor, a robust Public Finance Management system is the critical pathway for efficient and effective delivery of the dividends of democracy to the citizens.

This, the governor said, must be carried out in a manner that is transparent and accountable to all.

He said: “What the pandemic (COVID-19) has done is to compel us all, whether in the public or private sectors, to focus more attention on exploring ways ‘to do more with less.’ We have been forced to find ways of optimising spending, to ensure that, one, we are cutting down on waste excesses and things that we do not need, and two, that every unit of surviving expenditure delivers maximum value and impact, for the benefit of our populace.

“This is the time for Commissioners for Finance and Commissioners for Economic Planning to be sincere with their principals, who may have asked you to do the impossible. But indeed, we know this is the time for you to be frank and sincere to your principal that we have to think out of the box. You have to be very creative and do away with what will not be considered as important this time.”

The governor also commended the Federal Government for faithfully implementing various initiatives aimed at improving the quality of Public financial management in Nigeria.

He said initiatives like the Treasury Single Account (TSA), the Presidential Initiative on Continuous Audit (PICA), the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS), among others, including the States’ Fiscal Transparency, Accountability and Sustainability Programme for Results (SFTAS) Programme, have provided support to states to help them achieve desired fiscal reforms underlined by prudence, openness, transparency and accountability.

The governor said the programme has also highlighted to States the need to redouble efforts aimed at increasing Internally Generated Revenue (IGR).

He said: “We must rapidly embrace technology as a tool for increasing transparency and accountability, as well as expanding citizens’ access to public services in a manner that is cost-effective and solution oriented. Every opportunity to reduce non-essential spending must equally be seized with both hands. And, very importantly, we must invest in building the human capacity required to adapt seamlessly to the social, legal, technological and policy demands of the new normal.

“Here in Lagos State, we are doing a lot in that regard, from cleaning up our public payroll system, to embracing automation and technology in the management of land and property records and processes, to restructuring loans and bonds to ensure a productive lowering of our debt service costs, and also to exploring innovative ways of mobilising capital to deliver on our vision of a truly 21st Century Megacity.”