Former Secretary of the Association of Local Governments Of Nigeria (ALGON), Kaduna State chapter, Alhaji Kabiru Jarimi, has refuted ex-Governor Nasir El-Rufai’s claim that he never interfered with councils’ funds during his tenure.
Jarimi, who served under El-Rufai’s administration, described the claim as misleading, stating that funds were routinely deducted from councils’ allocations under various guises by the previous government.
The ex-ALGON State Secretary who is also the former Chairman of Kaduna South Local Government, disclosed this in an interview with newsmen over the weekend.
“I was shocked by El-Rufai’s comment because local government funds were deducted without our approval. Most of the deductions targeted Southern Kaduna LGAs.
“We never got our full allocations under El-Rufai. His government kept introducing policies to deduct funds unnecessarily. I even considered resigning. At times, we had no funds for overhead costs after paying salaries,” he recalled.
Jarimi who said that El-Rufai justified the deductions as necessary to settle workers’ salaries, further said that the state government also employed various means to withdraw additional funds.
The former Council Chairman cited the creation of Kaduna Capital Territory Authority, Zaria Metropolitan Authority and Kafanchan Municipal Authority as conduits for short-changing local governments.
“Salaries were shared 60-40 between the capital territories and LGs around them. In Kaduna South, deductions were made in the name of sanitation, forcing us to remit funds to the Kaduna Capital Territory Authority (KCTA) every month,” he stated.
The former Chairman further alleged that the funds of local governments outside the capital territories were also deducted without explanation, citing deductions for security and ‘riot damage’
“We contributed to a security fund, yet no former LGA chairman can account for how it was used. The same applies to the riot damage fund; no LGA benefited from it. I challenge the former Governor to explain where the money went,” he demanded.
Jarimi commended Governor Uba Sani for reversing many of El-Rufai’s policies, especially the abolition of the Capital, Metropolitan and Municipal Authorities, as well as the security and riot damage funds.
According to the former local government chairman, the Governor Uba Sani administration now gives a percentage of its Internally Generated Revenue to local governments.
