TheCable

The Kwara state government has directed all state-owned tertiary institutions to open single treasury account for fees and other payments.

The institutions have also been mandated to close all revenue accounts maintained in commercial banks across the state and barred from receiving fees and other revenues in cash.

According to Muideen Akorede, senior special assistant to the governor on media and communication, Abdulfatah Ahmed, governor of the state, disclosed this during a meeting with heads of tertiary institutions and banks operating in the state.

Akorede quoted the governor as saying the development would enable the government “know the actual state of the institutions’ finances as a prelude to the debut of the newly-established Kwara State Internal Revenue Service (KSIRS), which is the sole body responsible for revenue collection and management in the state”.

He also said Ahmed assured the institutions that they will continue to receive budgeted funds from the government, pointing out that the only objective of the new order is to ensure efficiency in revenue generation and management.

According to him, Ahmed identified enhanced internally generated revenue as the only way the state can survive the current economic crises in the country because federal allocations are unlikely to return to previous levels owing to sustained drop in global oil prices.

Ahmed was said to have told heads of tertiary institutions in the state that they now have an opportunity to demonstrate their managerial skills as they migrate from inefficiency in revenue generation to levels of sufficiency.

The statement added that all ministries, departments and agencies have also been barred from opening bank accounts or obtaining loans without authorisation from the office of the accountant-general.