The Kwara State Government has again recorded a drop in its monthly allocation from the federation account. According to the figures released on Friday by the State Commissioner for Finance, Alhaji Demola Banu, the state government received a total of N1, 519, 879, 557.87 as allocation for the month of April, against the N1, 743, 743, 559.80 received in March.
The April allocation shows a thirteen per cent reduction of about N223, 864, 001.93 from the allocation the state received in March.
Giving a breakdown of the April allocation, Banu disclosed that the state government got a statutory revenue allocation of N892, 119, 940.33; VAT of N611, 764, 216.14 and exchange difference of N15, 995, 401.40, totaling N1, 519, 879, 557.87.
The Finance Commissioner also gave the figures of allocation received by the 16 local governments in the State for the month of April to include statutory revenue allocation of N856, 869, 905.52; VAT of N347, 234, 210.49 and exchange difference of N10, 550, 051.47, totaling N1, 214, 654, 167.48.
According to these figures, the April allocation for the local governments represents a reduction of N147, 174, 286.01 from the N1, 361, 828, 453.49 they got for the month of March.
The breakdown of the March allocation for the 16 local governments shows that they received a statutory allocation of N998, 912, 276.23; VAT of N350, 191, 495.35, while the exchange difference stood at N12, 724, 681.91, amounting to N1, 361, 828, 453.49.
Alhaji Banu, who decried the drop in the April allocation received by the State, noted that it was far lower that the N2.4billion the state government expends on monthly workers’ wages and overheads.
He, however, commended the Federal Government for approving the suspension of monthly deduction at source for states who received bailout funds from the federal government, saying that this will ease the financial challenges facing states.