Zaria council presents N1bn 2019 budget for appraisal at town hall meeting
Budget
By Mohammed Lawal
Zaria (Kaduna State), Aug. 29, 2018 (NAN) Zaria Local Government Area of Kaduna State on Wednesday presented the draft of 2019 budget of over N1 billion to the public for scrutiny and input.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the draft document was presented at a town-hall meeting with participants drawn from the 13 wards in Zaria.
The Council Chairman, Alhaji Aliyu Idris-Ibrahim, who presented the document, said the essence of the meeting was to seek contributions from the public on projects needed in their areas.
“The essence of our gathering is to seek contributions on which projects you want this government to do for you in 2019 budget, because in the next two days we are going to submit the budget.
Idris-Ibrahim, who was represented by his vice, Sheik Aliyu Ibrahim-Attukury, said, “this is because, we have promised to run this government together with you toward ensuring a transparent leadership in the local government.
“We have proposed to spend N1,009,555,031.80 for the 2019 fiscal year.
“This money will be divided into 14, to give each of the 13 wards equal share while the remaining one share will be used at the local government secretariat, the seat of government.
“Therefore, I want to use this medium to inform the general public that Inshaa-Allah, we are going to execute projects worth N80 million in each of these 13 wards.”
The chairman recalled that in 2018, the council had proposed 102 projects, but only 22 projects were completed, and that the remaining 82 projects were either ongoing or yet to take-off.
He said the council inherited a liability of over N400 million, but promised to govern the council without borrowing or lending money.
“Therefore, we want to start saving money from now to end of the year.
“We want to come up with N600 to N700 million, then from there, we will advertise projects, so that contractors can work and get paid instantly,” Idris-Ibrahim said.
According to him, the mission of the council is to avoid projects that it cannot pay for.
“This is because Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon Him) has said ‘Whoever works for you, ensure that you pay him before his sweat dry-up.’ This is our principle and we will stand by it,” said Idris-Ibrahim.
He appealed to people to go back home and prepare a list of projects needed in their communities and submit same to their councilors for submission to the council.
The chairman also promised to execute the projects one after the other, and that the door of the council’s leadership was always opened to all for suggestions and corrections.
Idris-Ibrahim, however, appealed to people to be patient with the new style of leadership in the local government, saying it was to ensure that due process was followed in project implementation.
He also announced that Gov. Nasiru El-Rufa’i of Kaduna State had earmarked N20 million as winning prize for the most outstanding service delivery area council in the state.
The chairman said the winning council must excel in the area of project execution, administration, financial management and due process.
Idris-Ibrahim pleaded with the people of the area to give their maximum support and cooperation to the new council administration to win the prize. (NAN)
KLM/AOM/SA
Edited by Abdullahi Mohammed/Salif Atojoko
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