The Governor of Yobe State, Mai Mala Buni has ordered the State-owned bank, Yobe Microfinance Bank to open branches in all the 17 local Government areas in the state.

The governor gave the order on Saturday as part of measures to provide banking services to the people in the local government areas.

The governor said the lack of banks in most parts of the state has become a problem of grave concern.

“The new cashless policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria came with lots of challenges to our people in most parts of the state due to lack of banks.

“Most local government areas do not have financial institutions and have to travel far distances with heavy risks to conduct financial transactions.

“The situation is further compounded with the new cashless policy and despite our plea to the commercial banks to open branches, there have been no responses.

“As a government, we have looked inward to seek for solution that would rescue our people”, he said.

This was contained in a statement signed and issued by the spokesperson to the governor, Mamman Mohammed today.

According to Mamman, Governor Buni said his administration remains committed to support the growth of the Micro Finance bank. 

While assuring the bank management of his support, he charged them to prepare for the challenges that would come with the new branches.

He commended the bank management for the good performance in the last few years saying, there is room for more improvement.

The governor further called on the state’s business community, civil servants and everyone in the localities to patronize the bank to stand the test of time.