By Mohammed Baba Busu
Alhaji Mu’azu Hamidu-Jantabo, Niger Commissioner for Local Governments and Chieftaincy Affairs says the state government will soon reposition the 25 local governments in the state to make them more viable.
Hamidu-Jantabo spoke in Minna on Wednesday when he addressed newsmen on his vision and mission for the local governments.
The commissioner said: “On the issue of funding for the LGs to achieve anything meaningful, we must reposition them.
“This is to boost their wherewithal to have sufficient funding to drive our policies.’
The commissioner also said that the issue of the state and LG joint account system was a straightforward matter.
Hamidu-Jantabo added: “It is just a matter of aggregating all the funds from FAAC into a particular account from where the LGs sit and share at the end of the month.
“The distribution is being made acdording to a template from FAAC itself and there is nothing cumbersome about it.”
The commissioner also posited that the joint account system has been one of the greatest things to have happened to most of them in the state.
Hamidu-Jantabo said that about fifteen of the local governments would not have been viable without the joint account system.
On the extant funds’ sharing formula under the system, the commissioner said that it was a product of the law.
“For instance, to change it, there must be a change of the law may be from the State House of Assembly, otherwise the law must be sustained,” he added.
Hamidu-Jantabo further said that the harmonized revenue law in the state has been operational for over a year now.
He vowed: “We will address some of the bottlenecks in the IGR collections and reinforce the synergy between the ministry and the collecting agencies.”
The commissioner also promised that the state government would involve the traditional rulers more in ensuring the security of the lives and properties of the citizens. (NAN)
