As the financial quagmire rocking administration of Local Government Councils across the country bites harder, administrators of the Local Councils in Kano state are seeking for bail out from the state government.
The bail out they are seeking for is to enable them meet their salary obligations to workers, most of whom are being owed salary arrears
In response to the prevailing situation in the Councils, Kano state government has released N1.2 billion from the wallet of its Internally Generated Revenue to the affected 44 local government councils in the state.
The move is to enable them augment their federal allocations, so that they can meet their salary obligation for the month of June to staff of the Council.
The state governor, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje said that the move became imperative as the monthly allocation to the councils from the Federation Account is no longer sufficient for the Councils to pay salaries, talk less of carrying out developmental obligations.
The governor added that the only option let for states are for them to find out ways of boosting their Internally Generated Revenue, in order to withstand the current economic realities.
He recalled that during the immediate past administration, the state government used to have a balance of N4 – N5 billion after paying salary monthly, pointing out that with the dwindling capital receipts from the Federal government now, his government is compelled to look inwards in order to remain afloat.
To closely coordinate its earning and expenditure therefore, Governor Ganduje asserted that the Single Treasury Account is indispensable for his government, noting that although it would affect tertiary institutions in the state, it would not put them in a disadvantaged position.
“Whenever you collect your revenues, declare them. We will then release the money to you for your day to day activities”, the governor maintained.
Governor Ganduje explained that although he inherited problems in the tertiary education sector, prominent among which is the issue of accreditation of courses, the government would do its best to support the institutions to live up to their mandates.
He also dwelt on the rationale behind establishing the state Education Promotion Committees, which he said is to encourage community participation in the sector, pointing that N10 million has been released to each local government committee to facilitate renovation of primary schools.
“We shall evaluate the performance of the local government committees and make more money available to deserving committees as part of our effort to revitalize education”, Governor Ganduje maintained.
