The Bayelsa State Government has said that there is nothing to hide concerning the financial transactions of the state, as it is running a prudent and transparent system.
The State Commissioner for Information, Orientation and Strategy, Ayibaina Duba, stated this on Monday during the income and expenditure briefing for the months of November and December, 2021, at the Treasury Building in Yenagoa.
The commissioner made the remark while
responding to a question from a journalist on the government’s budget for the celebration of Governor Douye Diri’s second anniversary.
The activities marking the governor’s second anniversary started on February 7 and ended on February 19 with the inauguration of projects and groundbreaking ceremonies of others.
He restated the government’s commitment to its policy on transparency and accountability, addressing that the government “does not have anything to hide from the people of the state”.
Duba said: “This is a transparency briefing for November and December (2021). Why don’t you wait until we do the transparency briefing for the months of January and February (2022)? That’s the proper thing to do.
“And you should understand that there is a committee that is in charge of the anniversary celebrations. So, you wait. There is nothing to hide, this is not a briefing we are giving a report on the anniversary”.
On his part, the Technical Adviser to the Governor on Treasury, Accounts and Revenue, Timipre Seipulou, explained that the government had an established financial procedure for income and expenditure operations.
Seipulou said all monies spent on the anniversary events could not be given in the transparency briefing for the two previous months, stressing that the government would provide all financial details at the right time.
Giving the figures for November and December, he stated: “We have financial processes in the state. If expenditures are not made, they are not presented. All expenditures that are being made during the anniversary (celebration), be sure that they are budgeted for.
“What is being spent at this time (of the celebration) can’t be extracted. At the appropriate time, expenditures related to the anniversary will be presented”.
