Following disbursement of an initial N1 billion to offset part of their outstanding salary arrears, Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed of Kwara State, has pledged to make additional funds available to local government councils from the Paris Club loan refunds, which accrued to the state.
Governor Ahmed disclosed this, yesterday, while addressing stakeholders at the monthly All Progressives Congress Forum, at Banquet Hall, opposite Government House, Ilorin.
The governor noted that additional funds would be released as soon as other outstanding commitments of the state government, including pensions and gratuities of state retirees, were settled as encapsulated in the 2017 budget.
According to Governor Ahmed, state-owned tertiary institutions are also expected to benefit from the refund.
He said: “I’m pained that the economic challenges in the country have taken their toll on every segment of the country, particularly the local government workers in the state.”
He promised that his government would spare no effort at ending the salary crisis at the local government level in the state.
The governor explained that the N5.1 billion received by the state government was 12.5 lower than the amount it was expecting from the Federal Government.
He, however, assured Kwarans that another tranche of the refund would be released by the Federal Government in September, and promised to continue to improve on the welfare of the entire citizenry.
Earlier in his remarks, the State Chairman of APC, Alhaji Ishola Balogun-Fulani commended members of the party for mobilising electorate for Continuous Voters Registration exercise by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Alhaji Balogun-Fulani also praised the party’s faithful for the peaceful conduct of the wards and local government congresses of the party, saying that the state congress of the party would hold next week.
