Kano state government has placed all political officeholders in the state on half salary, as a result of the on-going shortfall in the federation allocations and almost zero collection being recorded in the internally generated revenue (IGR), due to the prevailing COVID-19 pandemic.
Those affected according to governor, his Deputy, all Commissioners, Special Advisers, Senior Special Assistants, Special Assistants among others.
He said that all the political officeholders at the local government level, which includes the Chairmen, Deputy Chairmen, Elected Councillors, Supervisory Councillors, Advisers and Secretaries of Local Governments, are also affected.
The new government directive will be coming into effect from this month of May, information made available to BusinessDay on Sunday in Kano, revealed.
Abdullahi Umar Ganduje regretted the situation, said the development was necessitated primarily by the shortfall in the price of crude oil in the global market which has caused a shortfall in the federation account allocation to states.
Funds shared by the three tiers of government in the federation for the month of April fell by 24%, according to information given by the Federal Accounts Allocation Committee.
The governor disclosed in view of the situation at hand the state government has no alternative than to slash salaries of all political office holders by 50 percent.
“The sad situation at hand is also being compounded by the serious downward collection that we are experiencing in our IGR, due to COVID-19 pandemic challenge. Almost all companies in the state are no longer in operation due to lockdown.
“The trend is also being compounded by the fact that all other areas of revenue generation accruable to the state, are no longer operational, so we have no other alternative than to take the steps we have taken,” stated.
