Kwara state government has said that local government funds are not tampered with by either the state government or any of its agents.
The commissioner for Local Government, Chieftaincy Affairs and Community Development, Hon. Abdullahi Abubakar Bata, on Tuesday, said at the inter-ministerial briefing organized by the state ministry of Communications, adding that the ministry was only saddled with monitoring and supervision of the activities of the Local Governments.
“The ministry is in no position to interfere with the council funds but to perform its cabinet function of monitoring and do supervisory role by ensuring due process are followed in projects execution, to know the extent of their compliance on procurement laws and also to ensure that the federal character principles of equal distribution of projects are carried out in the councils,” he said.
He also said that, since the inception of the present administration of Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq, the local government councils have been given free hands to take charge of their affairs.
Responding to a question on the recent verdict of the Supreme Court on local government autonomy, the Commissioner said that the Local Government since the inception of the present administration have been independent in the administration of their affairs and most especially in the disbursement of their finances.
The commissioner, who said that Local Government Councils in the state are now solvent and better positioned to deliver on the core mandate of their creation, added that all the local government councils are no longer known for salary-related payments alone but have been repositioned for better performance and delivering the dividends of democracy to their various constituents in terms of projects executions.
Also, the Kwara State Ministry of Health said that it screened over 102,452 residents of the state across the 16 local government areas for hypertension and diabetes free of charge between October and December last year.
Speaking during the state’s fourth quarter ministerial press briefing in Ilorin, the state commissioner for Health, Dr Amina El-Imam, said that free refill drugs were also provided to all individuals with known cases of hypertension and diabetes during the exercise, “after we had successfully carried out advocacy and sensitisation to all Kwarans on the two major non-communicable diseases.”
The commissioner said that healthcare workers in primary, secondary and tertiary healthcare facilities were re-trained on the diagnosis and management of hypertension and diabetes, tuberculosis, Leprosy and the Buruli Ulcer Control Programme.
The commissioner for Health also said that a free breast and cervical cancer screening programme was carried out across the 16 local government areas of the state between October 21 and December 12, 2024.
“1,151 and 807 women were screened for breast and cervical cancers respectively. All suspicious breast lesions had Fine Needle Aspirate for Cytology (FNAC) done and all diagnosed cases were linked to care at KWASUTH,” the commissioner said.
The governor’s aide, who said that improvement in the quality of care of TB patients had resulted in the achievement of a 94% treatment success rate within the reporting period 2024, added that Expansion of Directly Observed Therapy Short Course (DOTS) centres in health centres were established to improve tuberculosis case finding and services.
“There was also free mass administration of deworming medicines to over 750,000 school-aged children in public and private schools and communities across the state,” she said.
Also speaking, the state commissioner for Social Development, Abosede Buraimoh, said that three destitute in the state were repatriated to Kano and Port Harcourt, Rivers state within the period under review.
This, she said was done after the people were treated at a psychiatric home before the repatriation to their homes.
Also, General Manager, Kwara State Social Investment Programme (KWASSIP), Alhaji Olayinka Tejidini, said that over 100 business owners that their business outlets were affected by the urban renewal project, got between N400,000 and N800,000 to cushion the effect of the removal of their shops on setbacks despite the fact that they had a temporary certificate on the space.
He also said that some Lagos traders affected by recent inferno and who are indigenes of the state were presented with financial support.
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