…Gets N3.2bn Against February’s N3.5bn
By Wole Adedeji, Ilorin
Kwara State at the weekend lamented the drop in itsallocation from the federation account, as it received N3,280,571,173:55, N3.2 billion, for the month of March as against the N3,579,792,341:91 it got in February.
The state Ministry of Finance and Planning in a statement gave the breakdown of the allocation figures to comprise Statutory Revenue Allocation, SRA, N1,780,906,717:37 (net); Value Added Tax, VAT, N1,450,601,517:80; Forex Equalisation Fund, N45,905,022:05; Excess Bank Charges of N3,157,916:33; and total deductions of N350,066,963:71.
Similarly, the dip in the monthly allocation also affected the 16 local government areas of the state, as they got N2,003,444,477:39, against the N2,419,090,836:31 they got in February.
The local governments’ breakdown of received allocations are: SRA; N1,151,585,239:24 (net); VAT; N819,571,407:14; Forex Equalisation Fund, N30,209,637.68; Excess Bank Charges, N2,078,193:33; and total deductions of N253,936,350:68; inclusive of two months’ deductions for equipping healthcare centres at the local government areas.
With the LGAs having exhausted their savings to augment salaries, because their allocations have continued to drop in the past months, they would require a support of N110,721,693:89 from the state government to be able to pay 100 per cent salaries at N30,000 minimum wage, for Grade Levels 01-08, alongside their other first line charges for the month of March.
