By Ibrahim Sheriff (Gold)
Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq of Kwara state has said there are no funds to steal at the local governments as their entire statutory allocation and IGR are not enough to pay their salaries 100%, noting that the State government had to loan the local governments N110 million to enable them pay 100% salaries for the month of March.
The Governor in a statement issued by his Special Adviser, Political Communication, Alhaji Bashir Adigun described publication by a national newspaper alleging diversion of allocation to local governments by some states including the state government as ‘mischievous’.
Adigun insisted that AbdulRazaq’s administration remains transparent, accountable and focused on developments that transform lives in the state, adding that “The said publication is to say the least, sensational, mischievous,un- ethical and failed the test of balanced reporting.”
“The report, broadcast by some radio stations and bloggers in the state, made a weighty allegation of diversion of funds by some state governments in its headline but nowhere in the body of the story is this found.”
“It may be recalled that the setting up of a judicial panel of enquiry into similar false allegation of diversion of funds last year which gave Governor AbdulRazaq a clean bill was in continued demonstration of His Excellency’s commitment not only to transparency but his policy direction on the financial autonomy for the local governments”, the statement added.
