The governor of Kano State, Alha¬ji Abba Kabir Yusuf, has ordered the establishment of a Single Cen¬tral Revenue Account (SCRA) for all Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) within the state.
The directive was issued on Wednesday during an interactive meeting with the heads of MDAs at Africa House, Government House.
According to a statement by the governor’s spokesperson, Sa¬nusi Bature Dawakin Tofa, the decision became necessary due to the predominantly manual revenue generation processes in the state, with limited use of technology.
Furthermore, some MDAs have been operating revenue ac¬counts outside of the designated Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) accounts.
In addition to these challenges, the state has also been grappling with the issue of multiple expenditure accounts maintained by various MDAs, which has significantly hampered probity, accountability, and trans¬parency.
Alhaji Abba Kabir Yusuf fur¬ther explained that part of the measures to address these chal¬lenges and enhance the state’s revenue profile includes the ap¬pointment of a new management team for the Kano State Internal Revenue Service (KIRS).
Additionally, the governor has approved the implementation of a Central Billing System (CBS) aimed at strengthening and stan¬dardising billing processes across all MDAs in the state.
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The governor directed the Accountant General to urgently issue a circular mandating all MDAs to comply with the provi¬sions of the Kano State MDA Rev¬enue Harmonization Law, 2016.
The Accountant General is also expected to instruct all com¬mercial banks and other finan¬cial institutions to close all bank accounts (whether IGR or expen¬diture) belonging to any MDA of the state within 48 hours.
The governor’s directive further stated that banks are re¬quired to transfer all account bal¬ances from the IGR and expendi¬ture accounts to the new IGR and expenditure accounts recently opened by the Office of the Ac¬countant General of Kano State.
Banks are expected to submit certificates of compliance with these directives to both the Ac¬countant General and the Exec¬utive Chairman of KIRS.
Alhaji Abba Kabir Yusuf reas¬sured the citizens of the state, par¬ticularly taxpayers, that the current administration will continue to invest tax revenue in projects that will positively impact their lives and the state’s economy.
He added that from the first quarter of 2025, the government will aggressively invest taxpayers’ money in sectors such as water and sanitation, health, education, urban renewal, and agricultural development.
The governor also emphasised that his administration has estab¬lished a new Ministry of Power and Sustainable Energy to collab¬orate with power sector stakehold¬ers in addressing the state’s power supply challenges.