Analysis: FAAC allocations to Messrs Bindow and Fintiri within one year in office and how it was utilised.
One year may not be enough to judge the performance of the duo of Sen. Umaru Jibrilla Bindow and the incumbent Governor, Umaru Ahmadu Fintiri based on the resources available to both of them in their first year in office, THE FINDER presents a scorecard of Messrs Bindow and Fintiri and how they utilised FAAC allocations accrued to Adamawa state within one year in office, Finder’s investigations is based on promises, achievements and expectation of Adamawa residents from the duo of Bindow and Fintiri as governor of the state within their first one year in office.
Senator Umaru Jibrilla Bindow governed Adamawa state from 2015 to 2019, Governor Fintiri is the incumbent governor of the state; he was sworn into office May 29th, 2019. According to data obtain from the Federal ministry of finance official site; FAAC allocations to Adamawa state under Fintiri got better within his one year in office compare to the 2 billion naira mostly gotten by his predecessor, Sen. Bindow within a year in office.
See table below:
In 2015 when Sen. Bindow took over the mantle of leadership he inherited loans from the administration of Messrs Nyako, Fintiri and Bala Ngillari, apart from the commercial banks loans he inherited, contract obligation was also inherited from his predecessor amounting to 3 billion naira, local government salaries of some months was left behind by his predecessor which Bindow’s administration also settled.
The Finder report that, due to shortfall of FAAC allocations to local government council from federation account in 2014, most of the government agencies like the primary health care, UBE were able to pay workers’ salaries by combining two months allocations from JAAC to offset one month salary of workers from November, 2014.
For instance the law setting up the Adamawa state primary healthcare demand 15 percent of the 21 local government’s funds to be given to the agency from local government funds. Trouble started in 2014 when the 15 percent going to agency and the UBE could not pay the health workers salaries again.
For instance from November, 2014 the 15 percent going to the Adamawa state primary health care was less than the salary bill of about 320 million required by the agency to pay their workers in 2014-2015, according to documents review by this news medium.
Most of the agency allocation from 2014- 2015 fluctuate between 180 to 250 million naira, sometimes they got more than the required amount for salary payment, same applies to the UBE board. The governor controls states allocations from FAAC, why the ministry for local government and chieftaincy affairs control local council salary.
According to data obtained from the ministry of works, despite the economic downturn, Bindow constructed and commissioned over 37 roads within a year in office apart from rural access roads which is just an access road, Bindow spent his first year in office awarding massive road contracts.
The Bindow administration spent billions on the road infrastructure in the first quarter and second of 2015. The report also shows the amount spent on roads contract in 2016 appreciated by 6.1 percent, compared with the road contracts awarded in the second half of 2015.
-Adamawa still to recover its title as “land of beauty” as its capital was more of a glorify village before 2015, political giants produce by the state that have served at the national and international level could not justify the non-motor able roads within the capital, yola before the advent of Bindow’s administration. This was mainly due to inability of successive governors to maintain policies of their predecessors.
Achievements of Bindow within one year in office:
-Rehabilitation and construction of some major roads began. They include Atiku-Abubakar, way, Galadima Aminu way, Justice Buba Ardo, modibbo adama way, damare road, faro, Jabutu road network, Mubi township roads, Numan township roads etc.
Adamawa residents, by a wide margin (56 percent to 37 percent), think Bindow was a better governor than Fintiri has been, according to The Finder adult polls released this week. Adamawa residents think Bindow’s second term as a governor of the state would have been better than Fintiri has been, but by a much smaller margin (47 percent to 44 percent). These numbers aren’t that surprising, but they are weird.
First, Bindow has very similar public policy view if he had won second term as a governor of the state.
Maybe Adamawa voters think Bindow was particularly good as a governor by giving priority to infrastructure and still paid state workers their salaries, in a way Fintiri would not have been. And, sure, at earlier stages in their careers, Bindow and Fintiri had different views on issues, most notably the salary of civil servants. Second, Fintiri’s financial advantage according to inflow of FAAC has high advantage over Bindow within their first year in office.
Normally Adamawa ex governors are generally more popular after they leave office. Bindow is following that trend. The Bindow-Fintiri numbers roughly parallel Fintiri’s approval ratings — 42 percent approve and 52 percent disapprove.
This is a pattern that shows up on a variety of questions from a variety of pollsters: A majority of the public takes the anti-Fintiri position, while 35 percent to 40 percent of Adamawa residents, including the majority of PDP members, align with the governor.
Third, issue positions don’t explain Adamawa voter behaviour particularly well, so it makes sense that voters imagine that they would like Bindow’s infrastructure policy decisions more than Fintiri’s civil service reform policy, even if they would largely be the same decisions.
Finally, we’ll give Fintiri some credit, particularly as he might be smarting from Bindow’s reversal of one of his major policy achievements (more on that in a bit). Fintiri was under investigation by the economic and financial crime commission (EFCC) during his campaign. Some of Fintiri’s closest allies (and perhaps the governor himself, but to immunity he enjoin from prosecution) are now. If you are judging your ex-governor or the current governor in terms of staying away from major legal controversies, Bindow is far ahead of Fintiri.
Fintiri’s approval rating
Fintiri’s governance approval rating is 42 percent; his disapproval rating is 52 percent. Fintiri’s net rating (-10 percentage points) is better than this time last month, when it was -13 (40.6 approval, 53.3 disapproval). So he is still quite unpopular, but slightly less so.
Most of the Governor fintiri supporters gave him pass mark based on their believe that the governor has done well for introducing free school feeding program and payment of salaries before 25th of every months, some of his supporters even claim security has improved in the state and that he has nipped the activities of shila boys in the budd. FAAC allocations to Adamawa within the one year under review were better under Fintiri than Bindow’s administration.
In the area of infrastructure, Fintiri could not point to any projects that he has started and completed within a year in office unlike his predecessor that commissioned about 37 roads within 100 days in office, Fintiri’s administration awarded bachure road for about eight months now, yet the level of work done is less than 35 percent, check by this news medium show that the road construction is not up t0 5 kilometres as the governor approach one year in office in less than three weeks from now.
The governor and his supporters claim that they used over a billion naira monthly to offset the FG loan taken by his predecessor in office, records of the federal ministry of finance show that, despite collecting most time 2 billion naira monthly between 2015-2016 and also paying debt inherited from the trio of Nyako, Fintiri and Bala Ngillari in 2014.
Bindow inherited, he performed wonderfully well than the incumbent governor of the state in terms of infrastructure development within his first year in office. Salary bills of states government workers plus political appointees under the previous administration gulped up to 1.8 billion naira monthly naira, still capital projects were on going in within Bindow’s one year in office.
Most political analyst wonders how Bindow was able to pay salary bill of 1.8 billion naira monthly from and still invest in capital projects. In 2015 most states of the federation could not pay salary, some owed workers salary for about 15 months, states like Benue, kogi, Cross River etc,.
The FG through CBN provided N650 billion naira loans at 9% interest for twenty years repayment plan to aid 35 states in the country through budget support monthly which Adamawa state got about 17.5 (bailout) paris refund was not a loan as Adamawa got N10.25bn. when Bindow took over, part of the paris club was used to pay leave grant for three years to state government workers which gulped up to about 7.5 billion naira.
According to data from debt management office from 2015 till 2019, Adamawa loans rose from about 48 billion naira to 92 billion, it means Bindow’s administration took 42 billion naira loans through FG budgets support funds(bailout) not commercial banks, as it is on record that Bindow did not take a dime as loan from any commercial bank.
Even if a billion naira is deducted from FAAC allocations as claim by the present administration of Fintiri, FAAC allocation under Fintiri still surpass that of Bindow’s administration with a billion naira monthly for a year. Adamawa states in 2015 most times got 2 billion naira in most cases and still carry out capital projects under Bindow. It is also on record that loans deduction was effected on the state government account under Bindow no matter how small the FAAC was then.
Note: the duo of Bindow and Fintiri paid loans collected by their predecessors, Bindow paid loans collected by Messrs, Nyako, Fintiri and Bala Ngillari in 2014 without cry wolf.
Salary: both have never been indebted to state government workers as it was only, some local government, primary health care workers and teachers salary back log he inherited from Ngillari in 2015, but were later cleared in November, 2018 by Bindow. Despite giving self credit by the Fintiri administration for salary payment, it is also on record that Bindow has never been indebted to any state government workers apart from the last two months when he was frustrated by the bank to pay the salary of April and May 2019 after he lost his re-election to Fintiri.
Projects: the duo of Bindow and Fintiri inherited contract claims from their predecessors, within a one year in office Bindow constructed about 40 roads and bridges while the only capital project initiated by Fintiri so far is the Bachure Road, the level of work done is less than 35 percent.
Revenue: according data obtains from the Federal ministry of finance, FAAC Allocations got better under Fintiri than Bindow in their first one year in office, but Fintiri lacks substantial projects to match his predecessor, apart from loan repayment and payment of contract obligation that amount to 3 billion naira Bindow inherited fromhis predecessor, Bindow has never been indebted to the state government workers.
Leave grants: the duo of Bindow and Finriti paid leave grant to workers; as Bindow paid three years leave grant to workers within a year in office
Conclusion: despite the improvement in FAAC allocations to Adamawa state, much has not been achieved by the Fintiri led state government within a year in office compare to his predecessor.