BRIEF ON THE ACTIVITIES OF THE OFFICE OF THE ACCOUNTANT-GENERAL IN THE THIRD YEAR OF THE ADMINISTRATION OF HIS EXCELLENCY THE EXECUTIVE GOVERNOR CHIEF J.O. IBORI ,THE GOVERNOR OF DELTA STATE, NIGERIA.

The Accountant-General is the Chief Accounting Officer of Receipts and Payments of the State. The functions of the Office of the Accountant-General which flow from the above statutory function of the Accountant-General, are:
(i) Revenue Function: All revenues accruing to Delta State are collected and banked by the office.
(ii) Payment Function: The office is responsible for effecting payments on behalf of the State Government.
(iii) Recording Function: This involves the gathering, collation, analysis, and reporting on the financial operations of the State, by submitting final accounts to the State Audit and other financial reports to the Hon. Commissioner for Finance.
(iv) Supervision and Monitoring: The office supervises the financial operations of the State by:
(a) Posting internal auditors to all Ministries and Departments;
(b) Posting accountants and accounts officers to all Ministries and Departments;
(c) Sending the Inspectorate Department to monitor and report on compliance to financial rules, regulations and circulars by Ministries, Departments, Extra-Ministerial departments and Parastatals.
(v) Financial Advice: The office, being a professional department is made up of experts who possess the skill and know-how to offer
seasoned and reasonable advice on financial matters to the State Government.

3. In the last three years of Ibori's Administration in Delta State, the achievements of the Accountant-General's Office can be summarized as follows:

(i) Upgrading of the Status of the Accountant-General: History was made recently, when for the first time in Delta State, the Accountant-General was upgraded to the dual status of Permanent Secretary and Accountant-General, thereby breaking the jinx that Accountants could not aspire to become Permanent Secretaries. This is an unparalleled achievement of the office in this people oriented administration.

(ii) Production of final accounts/reports as and when due. Due to the phenomenal increase in the volume of financial operations, a computerisation process was set in motion. At the Accountant-General's Office level, the department has acquired computer hardware, software and organised training programmes from its meagre funds to enable it improve on the quality and timing of financial reports.

The computerisation process has been successful and has led to:
(a) Timely and accurate rendition of periodic financial report s for decision making.
(b) Preparation and submission of year 2001 financial statement s for audit in February 2002 (four months ahead of the statutory deadline of 30th June, 2002).
(c) Arising from the above, the publication of the audited financial statements of the State by the Auditor-General
in May 2002.
IT IS PERTINENT TO MENTION THAT THE DELTA STATE IS THE FIRST STATE EVER IN THE COUNTRY TO PUBLISH HER AUDITED FINANCIAL STATEMENT. AN EXECISE WHICH WAS DONE IN THE YEAR 2001.
(d) Highly motivated workforce as depicted by speedy and accurate rendition of the State's financial reports
(e) Improved efficiency in reporting due to the reduction in suspense accounts recorded in previous years.

Arising from the above, the financial summary of Delta State Government for the years 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2002 (Jan. - May) is presented hereunder:

FINANCIAL SUMMARY OF DELTA STATE FOR THE PERIOD 1999 TO MAY 2002

A: REVENUE PARTICULAR

B: EXPENDITURE

4. OTHER ACHIEVEMENTS:
(i) Expansion, Renovation and Maintenance of Treasuries.
(a) The period witnessed the establishment of thirteen new Treasuries at:

1. Akwukwu-Igbo
2. Aboh
3. Effurun
4. Isiokolo
5. Koko
6. Ozoro
7. Ogbe-Ijoh
8. Oghara
9. Owa-Oyibo
10. Otu-Jeremi
11. Obiaruku
12. Otor-Udu
13. Patani

bringing the number to twenty-six (with two in Asaba and one each in other Local Government Headquarters). The impact of the geographical spread of the Treasuries is that pensioners can receive their pensions without undertaking long distance journeys or wasting much transport fares. This achievement has resulted in series of commendation letters by the State Branch of the National Union of pensioners to the State Government.
Specifically, new Treasury buildings were constructed at Isiokolo, Patani, Oghara, Otu-Jeremi and Koko with a unit cost of six million naira.

However, much needs to be done to effectively utilise the Treasuries at Patani, Otu-Jeremi and Koko because the valuation at N6m did not take the swampy terrain into account. As such cost variation is required to do additional work to put them to effective use.
The Treasuries at Sapele, Orerokpe, Issele-Uku, Agbor and Ogwashi-Uku were renovated at various sums totalling about N12 million.

(iii) PENSIONS ADMINISTRATION:
The civilian administration ushered in a 'pensioners' friendly'
administrative strategy, with the following achievements:
(a) Settlement of all outstanding gratuities to date.
(b) Payment of monthly pensions as and when due.
(c) Settlement of 150%, 30% arrears of pensions increases
including Abacha Award.
(d) Placement of pensioners at the new rates recognising the increases in (iii) above.
The statistics below for the year 2001 aptly describes the level of government commitment to pension payments.

For the year under review (2001) the total reimbursement from the Federal Government for pensions was N470, 047,412.35.

(iii) MONITORING AND SUPERVISION:
In line with the Administration's resolve to ensure that only genuine workers and pensioners are paid, a Prepayment Audit Unit was set up. This Unit is focussed on verifying the figure of pensions and salaries payments in the State by screening the beneficiaries to determine their authenticity. Recent reports of the Unit suggest savings of significant sums of money by the elimination of names of ghost persons from the pensions.

(iv) STAFFING:
The staff strength of the office stands at 455 as at 31st May 2002, from that of 377 in 2001. This is made up of:

The increase in staff strength reflects the injection of more staff to improve the quality of delivery of services to the public by the office.

(v) STAFF DISCIPLINE
In pursuit of the tenets of accountability and transparency, some staff who were found wanting in the discharge of their duties were interdicted. A Disciplinary Committee has been set up to determine the status of the officers in the civil service.

(vi) TRAINING
Seminars and other training programmes have been organised for new and old staff of the office in a concerted and continuous effort to have a dynamic workforce, positively responsive to changes in the environment.

(vii) PERSONNEL COST
The monthly wage bill of the office which stands at about N6,000,000 is paid regularly.

CONSTRAINTS
(i) SHORTFALL IN REVENUE
There has been a significant fall in the revenue accruing to the State from January to May 2002 due to the suspension of the release of 13% Oil Derivation revenue to Oil Producing States in line with the recent Supreme Court judgement. This has affected the revenue expectations and thereby slowed down the payment process.

(ii) INADEQUATE OFFICE ACCOMMODATION
The office of the Accountant-General lacks adequate office space to effectively carry out her functions. At present, many officers share tables with their subordinates. Some do not even have space to use as office. Most crucial is the fact that there is no proper storage space for payment vouchers, accounting books and other financial records which by their nature are quite sensitive.

(iii) LACK OF FUNCTIONAL VEHICLES
In terms of functional vehicles, the office is having only three vehicles including the one used by the Accountant-General, being the only one that can effectively undertake long distance journeys outside the State. Although His Excellency has graciously approved six vehicles for the office, only two have been supplied. The rest four are being awaited.

(iv) POOR PHYSICAL STATE OF SOME TREASURIES
Some Treasuries require fencing e.g. Warri, Patani, Otu -Jeremi and Koko Treasuries in order to enhance their security and function more effectively as pay points. These and some others also require reclamation because of the swampy terrain which makes them inaccessible during the rainy season. There is need to construct new Treasury buildings in Asaba and Ozoro to cope with the requirement of more office space for the increasing number of pensioners.

Treasury Cash Office, Warri was constructed in the defunct Midwest State era, and the building is highly dilapidated. It therefore requires rehabilitation of the entire office building. However, there have not been adequate funds to embark on these and other projects.

OFFICE OF THE ACCOUNTANT-GENERAL,
DELTA STATE, NIGERIA.