24th October, 2016
The Kwara Government has rejected the demand by the state’s chapter of the Nigerian Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) for a refund of N33.6 billion to local governments in the state as illogical and baseless.
A statement by Dr Muideen Akorede, the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Communications to Governor, made this known to newsmen in Ilorin on Monday.
Akorede described NULGE’s demand as unfortunate and that there was no basis for demanding a refund of that or any other amount from the government.
He said that the government, on the contrary, had augmented allocation to local governments several times in recent months to enable them pay workers.
The media aide maintained that the state did not tamper with local government funds as alleged by the workers.
“Funds are shared among Basic Education teachers, local governments, pensioners, traditional councils as prescribed by law and the distribution is done transparently on a monthly basis.
“This administration only proposed to take over payment of Junior secondary school teachers in order to reduce the burden on local governments and enhance their capacity to pay workers in view of reduced allocation from the Federation Account,” he said.
He said that it was, therefore, ironic that ”NULGE is using the said proposal as the basis for its illogical demand for refund when it is public knowledge that allocations accruing to all tiers of government have dropped due to fall in oil prices.
”It is time NULGE wakes up to the reality of the economic situation and the fact that the present administration does not tamper with local government funds.”
Akorede stated that the state government remained committed to ensure transparency and accountability in the distribution of local government funds as specified by law.
He also advised NULGE to direct its request for promotions and salary increase to their respective local government councils as the state government was not responsible for such.