Yobe Splashes N5.1 bn On Developmental Projects
SAN FRANCISCO, April 16, (THEWILL) - The Yobe State governor, Alhaji Ibrahim Gaidam, has approved the sum of N5.1 billion for the execution of developmental projects in the 17 Local Governments Areas of the state.
The governor, who approved the sum on Tuesday, has also given approval for the payment of N786.2 million as gratuities and death benefits for various categories of retirees and their next of kin.
A statement signed by the governor's Special Adviser on Press Affairs and Information, Alhaji Abdullahi Bego, noted that the approval followed the submission of a work plan by the chairmen of the Local Government Councils for intervention in critical service areas that have direct impact on the lives of people in the grassroots, as well as to economically transform the lives of retirees and their families in the state.
Bego disclosed that each of the 17 Local Government Councils will receive the sum of N300 million from the total of N5.1 billion approved by the governor.
He said the governor has also directed each of the Local Government Council to follow and implement the approved work plan conscientiously.
"As part of ongoing effort to improve living conditions for people in rural areas, Governor Gaidam is committed to ensuring that basic social services, including potable water supply, functional primary school infrastructure, primary health care and sanitation, etc are made more readily available and accessible to people at the grassroots," Bego said.
. He disclosed further that with the approval of N5.1 billion for the Local Government Councils, the total fund expended on special interventions in the last one year has come to about N11 billion.
The governor had in 2012 approved over N5.2 billion for the Local Government Councils to undertake special projects.
Bego said with the current approval of the fund, the Local Government Councils are expected to pay attention to drilling of additional boreholes and hand pumps, repair of primary school classrooms and construction of new ones, construction of culverts and drainages, repair and improvement of dispensaries and the provision of drugs and consumables to improve primary health care, among others.
The statement recalled that in 2012, the sum of N602. 8 million was approved by the governor for similar payments, bringing the total to N1.389 billion for 2012 and 2013.