Satisfied with the performance of local councils, the Kaduna State Executive Council (KSEC) yesterday approved N62 billion in the 2017 budget for the 23 council areas in the state.
They expressed satisfaction that the autonomy granted the m by the administration of Governor Nasir El-Rufai was already yielding positive results.
The Commissioner for Local Government Affairs, Jafaru Sani, who briefed journalists at the end of the meeting at Government House yesterday, said the draft budget of the councils would be sent to the state House of Assembly for passage.
Sani explained that the government was targeting 60 per cent capital and 40 per cent recurrent expenditure for the 2018 councils’ budget, while noting that this year’s proposal would be used to clear the gratuity arrears and other issues affecting the councils.
He noted that government was determined to ensure that the councils match the state government’s commitment to a 60 per cent and 40 per cent capital and recurrent ratio in their budget expenditure.
“Actual percentage of the local government share of state internally generated revenue (IGR) amounting to N5 billion was captured for the local government areas as against N1 billion initially captured, resulting to N3 billion increase in the total proposed revenue.
“The initial budget size was N59.2 billion while the current budget size is N62.3 billion. This is as a result of the N3.069 billion increase in the proposed revenue,” he explained.
Meanwhile, following protests by residents and land owners at the Millennium City in Kaduna over alleged forceful acquisition of their land, the Kaduna State government has said that the protest was politically motivated to embarrass it over the organisation of the Kaduna Investment Summit (KADINVEST) which commences today.
The protesters had on Monday carried placards, chanting slogans against the government over what they described as plans to forcibly take over their lands without compensation.
The Director General of the Kaduna Geographic Information Service (KADGIS), Ibrahim Husaini, who spoke with journalists at a press conference yesterday, condemned the protesters over unverified information about plans by the state government to take over their lands without compensation.
“We strongly believe that the protest was politically motivated to embarrass the government because the Kaduna Investment Summit which would draw international and local investors is to start today,” he said.
Source: Guardian
