Kano State Government has approved N3.2 billion for the conduct of Local Government Council election slated for Jan. 16, 2021.
Muhammad Garba, the state’s Commissioner for Information, disclosed this in a statement issued in Kano on Thursday
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Kano State Independent Electoral Commission (KANSIEC) has fixed Jan. 16, for the election of 44 local council chairmen and 484 councillors sequel to the expiration of their three-year tenure.
The last election was conducted in February 2018 in the 44 Local Government Areas of the state.
Garba said the amount was approved by the State Executive Council (SEC) meeting held on Wednesday at the Government House, Kano.
He said: “Following the release of an itinerary for the conduct of January 16, 2021, local government council’s election, approval has been given for the purchase of sensitive and non-sensitive materials in the total sum of N2.3 billion.
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“In the spirit of shared and collective responsibility in governance, the fund, as recommended by the Association of Local Government of Nigeria (ALGON), will be shared between the state and local government on a ratio of 55 and 45 per cent, translating to the tune of N1.3 billion and N1.064 billion respectively.”
Garba said that the council approved the revocation of the contract awarded to Messrs Tiamin Multi-Services Global Limited for the rehabilitation of Ahmadu Bello Way for non-performance and lack of timely completion of the project.
The council approved the re-award of the contract to Messrs Triacta Nigeria Limited at the cost of N1.2 billion.
The Commissioner announced the released of 15 per cent advance payment amounting to N84.9 million to the contractor while about 12 per cent progress achieved.
Garba said the SEC approved N169.5 million to the state’s Senior Secondary School Management Board for feeding, logistics and monitoring of students writing the National Examination Council (NECO) and the National Board for Arabic and Islamic Studies (NBAIS) examinations.
The amount was provided to facilitate logistics arrangements and feeding of 12,171 candidates writing NECO and NBAIS examinations in the state.
The SEC approved the elongation of the terminal Grade Level (GL) of Assistant Library Officer Cadre from GL 13-14 and subsequent issuance of adoption circular on same by the Office of the Head of Civil Service in keeping with the government commitment towards improving the condition of service and welfare of workers.
“The request for the elongation issued by the Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation indicates that approval has been given by the National Council on Establishment, just as the terminal grade levels of some cadres such as data processing, statisticians, pharmacists, community and radiologists has been elongated.”
Garba disclosed that the SEC also approved N37 million to the state’s Zoological and Wildlife Management Agency for the restocking of animals in the Kano zoo.
According to him, animal collections in the zoo are facing dangers of old age, lack of pairing partners and inbreeding depress due to inability to restock for many years.
The Kano Zoo was registered by the Pan African Association of Zoos and Aquaria (PAAZAB) in 2007.