Date: 2017-05-29

Gov. Abdulfatah Ahmed of Kwara has said that local government councils should be reformed to boost their capacity to generate more revenue and augment allocation from the Federation Account.

Ahmed said this in Ilorin on Sunday during an interactive session with journalists at the Government House as part of the 50 anniversary of the creation of Kwara.

"The challenge is to reform the local governments so that their capacities to generate revenue are improved.

"Our local councils were created along political lines. Presently, they lack the capacity to generate revenue because their economic base is weak. "States cannot reform the local governments; it requires Federal Government and constitution amendment to effect such reform.

"The reform of the local governments will broaden their revenue base to meet their obligations to the people at the grassroots", the governor added.

The governor said the Joint Allocation Committee does not join Kwara government with the local governments in the state, adding that it is a joint committee among the 16 local governments in Kwara.

"It is difficult for the state government to always augment the local government’s salaries because such intervention is not included in the budget. Ahmed declared that Kwara had one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country due to government's intervention in youth empowerment, adding, " we want to build on that."

Ahmed noted that water supply was a problem in the state because of increasing population and pressure on infrastructure. He said that the ongoing water reticulation will soon be completed to alleviate the problem.

The governor assured the people that, they will see increase in human capital development and support for tertiary institutions in the next two years.

"In the coming months, more roads will be rehabilitated and new ones constructed. "In the health sector, we will see additional general hospitals rehabilitated, equipped and staffed.

"Kwara will become a major agric hub. Our creation of the Agro Mall is to supply input to farmers and act as a link between farmers, markets and resources", Ahmed added.

The governor declared that education was free in public schools in the state because tuition is free. "Tuition fees have been removed to lessen the burden on the parents", he added. NAN