Kwara Lawmakers Direct Gov Ahmed to Include N500m Bursary Award in 2017 Budget

By BISI ADEDAYO, Ilorin

The Kwara State House of Assembly has directed Governor Abdulfatai Ahmed to include a sum of N500 million in the 2017 Appropriation Bill for the payment of bursary award to the state indigents across all the tertiary institutions in the country.

The resolution was passed by the KSHA while considering the report of the Joint House Committees on Public Accounts as well as Finance and Appropriation on the performance of the state government on the approved 2016 budget.

Reading the House resolutions, the Speaker Dr. Ali Ahmad explained that though the nation and the state in particular was faced with macro-economic meltdown and paucity of fund, the state government should insert N500 million in the next year budget.

Ahmad said: “Since the bursary awards could not be implemented this year due to economic recession, N500 million should be included in next budget in order to alleviate the plights of indigent students in tertiary institutions across the country.”

The House equally advised the state government to commit more of its resources to capital expenditure with a view to salvaging the state from the verge of infrastructural deficit and enhance the well-being of the people.

It also urged the state government to embark on people- oriented projects as resolved by the legislature during the 2016 budget debate to ensure distribution of projects that would impact positively on the lives of the people across the state.

Noting that the lnternally Generated Revenue (IGR) of the state has increased, the legislature urged the state government to ensure distribution of projects across the State.

To attract participation of international development partners in infrastructural development of the state, the first tier of government urged the executive to maintain its good record of redeeming its counterpart contributions, noting that the roles of the donor agencies had impacted positively on the lives of the people of the state.

The parliament which called on the executive to address supervisory issues surrounding Harmony Diagnostic Centre and lnternational Aviation College, Ilorin for effective performance and accountability, said the House discovered that the two agencies were not found to be under any of the government organ for supervision.

The House reiterated its commitment towards providing a better platform for good governance of the state, urging the executive arm of government to henceforth discourage MDAs from making unrealistic revenue targets during budget preparation and defence to ensure its effective implementation.