Date: 2016-11-20

The Kwara State House of Assembly has approved the Joint Revenue Committee policy directing all citizens of the state to apply for the new Centralized Citizenship Certificate as the need arises.

The House gave the nod at its sitting while considering the report of the House Committee on Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs on a Motion titled " Contradiction Arising from Issuance of Certificate on Local Government Origin " raised by a member representing Ilorin North West Constituency Hon. Abdul Rafiu Abdul Rahman.

The Speaker Dr. Ali Ahmad while reading the resolutions of the House on the report, said the policy of the Joint Revenue Committee was aimed at checking and outlawing illegal issuance of Certificate of Origin which according to him had deprived the State and Local Government Councils revenue and opportunity meant for genuine indigenes of the state.

The Legislature then commended the State Internal Revenue Service (KWIRS) on its activities on the issuance of Certificate of Origin and urged it to improve on advocacy on the new Centralized Citizenship Certificate, to ensure that all indigenes of the state were better informed on the new policy directive.

The Chairman of the Committee Hon. Shuaib Abdul KADIR had while presenting the report observed among other things, that the Joint Revenue Committee had given the State Internal Revenue Service the mandate to collect revenue on its behalf, that the reintroduction of the new Certificate of Origin was for security reason, as the old certificates were used by the non indigenes to short change genuine citizens of the state, employment and other opportunities accurable to the state, while the authority of the University of Ilorin he said had suspended its earlier announcement in respect of the policy directive until further notice.

It would be recalled that on Thursday 3rd November, the House had mandated its House Committee on Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs to as a matter of urgency invite KWIRS for clarification on the status of the old version of the Local Government Certificate of Origin and directed it to suspend advocacy on the Media Houses and Tertiary Institutions until the grey areas were clarified before the committee and following a Matter Urgent Public Importance raised by a Member representing Ilorin North West constituency Hon Abdul Rafiu Abdul Rahman.