A few days after signing an agreement to end industrial action by staff unions at state-owned Gombe State University (GSU), the government has commissioned Sokson Venture, an external financial auditing firm, to audit the finances of the university.
The development is following the hue and cries of Unions of the Institution during negotiations with the State government, leading to the suspension of its industrial action.
Commissioning the firm on behalf of Governor Mahammadu Inuwa Yahaya, the Secretary to the Gombe State Government, Professor Ibrahim Abubakar Njodi, explained that the exercise is aimed at bringing to the limelight the financial dealings of the institution so that the government can take an informed decision.
Abubakar Njodi observes that financial audits of government and non-governmental organisations are common practice across civilised societies, hence the need for the university to cooperate with the auditing firm for a hitch-free exercise.
He emphasised that the exercise is not a witch hunt but an administrative routine to inject efficiency, transparency and accountability into the system.
While acknowledging the track record of Sokson Venture in financial auditing, Ibrahim Abubakar Njodi listed some breakthroughs the State Government has had through the firm, including the discovery of the names of all debtors of the N2 billion Small and medium finance loan facility as well as training and retraining of staff of Bubayero micro finance Limited from 2020 to date, among others.
The Managing Consultant of Sokson Venture, Dr. Bala Auta, described financial audit exercise undertaken to look at the transactional dealings of an organisation, make corrections where the need arises and advice appropriately.
He explained that as Professionals in the financial industry, their work will remain elusive without the support of organisations or institutions so audited, appealing to the Gombe State University to cooperate with his team as contained in a statement by Joshua Danmallam.
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