Kaduna govt spends N4.9bn on 67 projects in Chikun LG

 

The Kaduna state government under Malam Nasir el-Rufai said it has spent N4.9 billion on 67 projects in Chikun local government area of the state in the last three and half years.

This is contained in the state’s scorecard for projects at various stages of execution in the local government area presented at a town hall meeting on Monday in Kaduna, The meeting was organized by the State Budget and Planning Commission in collaboration with the Ministry for Local Governments.

Addressing the town hall meeting, the Budget and Planning Commissioner, Muhammad Abdullahi, said the government has done well and needed more support from the people to continue. He said that the state government was generating only N13 billion in 2015 when Governor el-Rufai took over, but has now been raised tremendously. He said government had to strengthen its tax policies and block revenue leakages to raise its internally generated revenues to N32 billion in December 2018.

According to the Comissioner, the 67 projects covers education, health, rural and community development, environment and infrastructure, most of which have been completed. “Some of the projects included six road projects awarded at the cost of N3.2 billion, 39 school projects that gulped N1.1 billion, among others.

“This government has awarded contracts for 28 projects in the health sector at N455.9 million, in addition to 14 public health centers in various communities in the area. According to the record, our government has also spent N32.8 million in various projects including consultancy for the construction of Bagoma Dam,” the commissioner added.

Meanwhile, the Commissioner for Agriculture and Forestry Development, Dr Daniel Manzo said agro-industrial zone has been established on Kaduna-Abuja expressway in the local government.

The Interim Chairman, Chikun local government area, Hajiya Ladi Yahuza said that the council has received over N3.8 billion in 2018 for capital and recurrent expenditures. Yahuza said the money was utilised on projects execution and payment of salaries in the council. She appealed for peaceful co-existence among residents of the council ahead of the 2019 general elections, while urging security agencies to be more proactive in the council to tackle banditry and pockets of kidnappings.

The member representing Chikun in the state Assembly, Hon. Yari Markus called on  residents to support the re-election bid of Govrernor Nasir el-Rufai to sustain investments in the area.

The event was attended by traditional and religious leaders, Igbo community in the area, youth and women groups, as well NGOs and civil societies.

Leave a Reply