Kwara government gives conditions to support local councils

The Kwara State Government is prepared to support Local Government Areas (LGAs) to resolve the issue of outstanding salaries and pensions, but with a caveat that such assistance will, however, be on a need basis as well as fiscal regulations.

To this end, the government has directed each Local Government Chairman in need of assistance to review the council financial cases and approach the State Commissioner for Finance for help when necessary.

At an interactive session with local government chairmen and leaders of the Nigerian Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) on Tuesday, at the Government House, Ilorin, the State Governor, Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed, urged the NULGE to address the issue based on the specific challenges in each of the LGAs owing salaries.

He said he was ready to assist the financially handicapped councils within the ambit of the law.He explained that the priority given to the payment of State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) teachers was in consonance with the provisions on Joint Account Allocation Committee (JAAC), which puts payment of basic level teachers on first line charge.

The Governor noted that the preference for teachers is to secure the future of the students and pupils through stable academic calendar.Governor Ahmed, however, urged the local government workers to approach the State House of Assembly for the review of any aspect of the JAAC law instead of public demonstration.

Speaking earlier, the Deputy President of NULGE, Oloruntade Ibikunle had expressed concern over the distribution pattern of local governments’ allocation which gave priority to basic teachers above local government workers.