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

Governor Buni who gave the directives through his Director General, Press and Media Affairs, Mamman Mohammed, explained the measures were to provide banking services to the people in the local government areas.

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

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“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,” Buni said.

He expressed the commitment of his administration to support the growth of the micro finance bank.

The governor charged the management of the bank to prepare for the challenges that would come with the new branches, “you will have our full support” he assured.

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

Governor Buni also called on the business community, civil servants and everyone in the localities to patronise the bank and support it to stand the test of time for efficiency.