Financial deprivation: Kaduna withholds three years 10% IGR allocation from LGAs – Audit report

Findings from the 2019, 2020, and 2021 audit reports have shown that the Kaduna State Government withheld 10 percent statutory allocation from the 23 councils in the state, totaling N17.6 billion.

Local Government Area Councils in the State are entitled to 10% of all internally generated revenue from the state according to the law. These funds are designated for constructing and maintaining public facilities, funding education and healthcare services, providing clean water supply, supporting agricultural development and markets, promoting social welfare, ensuring public safety, managing the environment, and fostering community development among other crucial aspects.

The audit report for 2019 revealed that Kaduna State realized N76.2 billion as Internally Generated Revenue (IGR). The 10 percent statutory and mandatory allocation to the 23 Local Government Councils from this amount is N7.6 billion. However, the audit report indicates that nothing was disbursed to the Local Government Councils as their rightful share.

Similarly, in 2020, the state realized N48.9 billion as IGR. The Councils were entitled to N4.8 billion, representing 10 percent of the allocation. Yet, the audit report stated that they received nothing from the IGR.

Likewise, in 2021, a total IGR of N52.4 billion was observed in the state. The 10 percent statutory allocation for the LGs from this IGR is N5.2 billion. Again, the audit report highlights that the LGAs received zero from the IGR.

The quest for information regarding the non-remittance of the 10% statutory allocation to the Local Government Areas (LGAs) of Kaduna State resulted in a series of unexpected challenges at the Ministry of Finance. The state government’s failure to remit this allocations, highlighted in the Kaduna State audit report, guided our reporter’s inquiry, armed with documented evidence sourced from this official report.

The initial destination was Shizza Joy Bada, the commissioner finance’s office upon arrival, our reporter learned of the Finance Commissioner’s absence. Promptly, a letter supported by the Freedom of Information Act (FOI), meticulously detailing the questions regarding the non-remital of 10 percent IGR and containing all necessary contact information, was presented. However, the attempt to have the letter collected and acknowledged was abruptly halted by an outspoken individual among the office occupants, who explicitly directed against collecting the original copy or stamping the acknowledgment that was brought.

Left in a state of uncertainty, our reporter swiftly sought guidance from the Ministry’s Public Relations Officer (PRO), Abdulkareem Sulieman whose contact information fortunately rested within reach. He directed our reporter to the Permanent Secretary’s office through a phone conversation to sought an audience with the Permanent Secretary to obtain necessary information, only to be met by an aide representing the Secretary.

Following interaction with the aide, she escorted our reporter back to the Commissioner’s office, instructing the office workers to acknowledge the letter. However, moments after acknowledgment, another individual discreetly advised the aide to retrieve the acknowledged letter from our reporter. Subsequently, the letter was snatched away, and a reprinted version, void of any official stamp, was provided.

Efforts to meet the Permanent Secretary were futile as our reporter was informed of the Secretary’s refusal to see him, even after instructing the retrieval of the acknowledged letter.

Resorting to alternative avenues, our reporter attempted to contact the Ministry through email and is yet to receive any response. Similarly, a follow-up message sent via WhatsApp to the PRO, accompanied by a copy of the previously rejected letter, remains unanswered.

Efforts were also made to reach both incumbent and former Local Government chairmen of the state.

Luckily, the former Sole Administrator of Chikun council, Hadiza Ladi Yahuza, who picked the Guardian’s call after several attempts declined to provide crucial information related to the statutory allocation over the phone and directed further inquiries to the Ministries of Finance and Local Governments.

She said “I have left the office like 2 years ago. It is not proper for me to sit in comfort of my house ans start giving information to someone i have never seen before.

“Some of my colleagues are still on the seat. I was just an interim administrator whom the governor sent to sanitize the place. I was drafted there to work and i did what i’m supposed to do with the limited resources i had.”

She however told the Guardian to contact the chairman ALGON and chairman of Kaduna South for more details.

Efforts to reach the chairman of the Association Of Local Government of Nigeria, (ALGON) Honorable Shuaibu Bawa Jaja were unsuccessful. In parallel pursuit, a letter containing questions about what the Councils are doing to retrieve the backlog allocations and contact details was submitted to Jaja, still awaiting response.

Similar attempts to reach Honorable Kabir Jarimi, the Kaduna South Council chairman via phone calls, remained unfruitful.

Meanwhile, a kaduna based Civil Society Organization (CSO) member, Yusuf Goje, who spoke with the Guardian also highlighted the lack of payment to the LGAs and ongoing engagements with the government to secure the rightful allocation. Goje stressed the adverse impact on the LGAs’ budget performance due to the non-release of funds.

According to Goje, “We have kept on writing about this (10% allocation to LGAs) and we have been engaging with the government. “We had dialogue on the independent revenue of local government and also on the 10% statutory allocation to the LGAs. The PHC, schools, feeder roads and water supplies in all LGAs will be improved upon once they get their allocation regularly.”