In keeping with his pledge to help local government councils pay July 2016 staff salaries in full, the Kwara State Governor, Abdulfatah Ahmed, on Thursday evening approved the release of N162,938,836.31 to augment Local Government allocation for the month.
News of the approval was conveyed by the State Commissioner of Finance, Demola Banu in a statement released on Thursday night.
Banu assured that following the approval, the money will be released to the 16 local government councils on Friday to enable them pay workers promptly.
Recall that Governor Ahmed, during a post-Joint Accounts Allocation Committee, JAAC, meeting with LG chairmen, and labour leaders at Government House, Ilorin, acceded to a plea by the chairmen for assistance to enable them pay a full month’s salary as the July allocation, though higher, was not sufficient.
Governor Ahmed also committed to working with the local government chairmen to clear existing salary and pension arrears. He however urged them to leverage on ALGON as a platform for lobbying the federal government for further help just as governors secured palliatives for states through the Nigerian Governor’s Forum.
Ahmed also directed the chairmen to hold monthly meetings with stakeholders in their various communities during which details of federation allocation and the utilization plan should be discussed openly in the interest of transparency.
