Governor Nasir El-Rufai has ordered that Kaduna’s Ministry of Finance open separate bank accounts to collect revenues on behalf of local governments in the state.

“Governor Nasir El-Rufai has mandated the Ministry of Finance to open separate accounts where revenues collected on behalf of local governments are to be paid into for each local government,” said Abubakar Buba, chairman of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON), Kaduna chapter, on Wednesday at a virtual event, organised to commemorate Open Government Partnership (OGP) at 10.

He added, “With this development, each local government council will have access to a portal where they can track their revenues and ensure they get what is due to them.”

The event was organised by the Coalition of Associations for Leadership, Peace, Empowerment and Development (CALPED) in conjunction with the Kaduna State Fiscal Responsibility Commission.

Mr Buba, the chairman of Lere local government council, said Mr El-Rufai had mandated the Ministry of Finance to open dedicated accounts for the remittance of IGR collected on behalf of local councils in Kaduna.

He explained that the move would address challenges around reconciliation and remittance of IGR collected by Kaduna State Internal Revenue Service on behalf of the local governments.

On improving IGR, the ALGON chairman noted that the association was working with the state government to address challenges of revenues at the local government level.

He also mentioned that the local government revenue committees were currently being reconstituted. The councils were empowered to request the replacement of non-performing collection agents.

He further explained that 23 local government councils, with the support of the Ministry of Local Government Affairs and Planning and Budget Commission, have been carrying out reforms to align with the OGP principles of transparency, accountability, and citizens’ engagement.

He added that besides working with Community Development Charter Champions to capture community needs, the councils also hold annual budget town hall meetings to get citizens’ inputs.

Yusuf Goje, head of Leadership, Governance and Advocacy at CALPED, stated that the objective of the meeting was to provide a local perspective to the conversation on the 2021 OGP Global Summit, held between December 15 and 17.

(NAN)