Local government chairmen in Niger who have failed to remit sales revenues from subsidised food goods granted to them by the state government have been given 24 hours to do so by the Standing Committee on Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs of the Niger State House of Assembly.
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Failure to comply would result in penalties, including suspension, according to the notice.
During an interface with the 25 local government chairmen on the state governor’s order, Bello Bako, chairman of the House Standing Committee, stated that only four LGAs—Bosso, Paikoro, Suleja, and Rafi—have finished sending sales proceeds to the state more than two months after the food items were collected.
He elaborated by saying that a report from the council chairmen showed that several local governments were still short on funds, including Chanchaga (which owed N65 million) and Edati (which owed N75 million).
“Some local government chairmen are frustrating the governor’s initiatives,” Bako stated, denouncing the occurrence. The governor ought to be hatching new plans to save costs now that Sallah is almost here. But when the food items got to the several councils, the chairmen complained about how awful they were.
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The damaged state of the grains and logistical challenges led to their repackaging, as was voiced by Iliyasu Zakari, chairman of Agwara Local Government and ALGON.
“Many other local governments suffered the same experience from the grains supplied by Niger Foods,” he said, continuing, “this issue is not peculiar to Agwara alone.”
Furthermore, Sunday Daniel Yisa, who is the chairman of Edati Local Government, blamed the damaged grains supplied by Niger Foods Company for the non-remittance of the due balance for the food products received from the government.
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