Kano State Govt Denies Allegations of Overdraft Fees
The Kano State Government has denied the alleged spending of N1.3billion as bank draft fees as part of funds it used to pay the state workers salaries as well as pensions before and after the commencement of the 2017 Muslim Ramadan and Eid El-Fitr celebrations respectively.
The state’s Commissioner For Finance, Kabiru Dandago, and Commissioner For Information, Muhammad Garba, stated that the state government only paid an interest of N10.7 million to some banks in order to pay workers’ salaries and enable a hitch-free Eid El-Fitr celebrations in the month of June.
Dandago further explained that the state’s accountant general and finance ministry negotiated the interest rates from the normal 27 to 30 percent down to 14 percent for the banks managing the state joint account and 15 percent for the bank managing the federal allocation account which was calculated at N10.7 million.
He said the amount would be claimed by the banks in question once the federal allocation funds due to the state are paid into the state government’s bank accounts.
On his part, muhammad Garba revealed that it is the first time the State is making such arrangements in order to assist civil servants to access their salaries and pensions before the date of the Eid El-Fitr celebrations., an arrangement he said was made in good faith to increase the purchasing power of the state’s civil servants for Sallah activities.
The state government urged the people of the state to dismiss any rumour or “mischievous speculations” of such financial deals, stressing that doing that would expose any attempt aimed at tarnishing the image of the state government.
