By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The Kwara State government is beginning to worry about the decline in the federal allocation to the state as it might become a challenge if nothing is done urgently to boost earnings.
The amount shared to the north-central state of the federation reduced again for the second time in November by 8.11 per cent. Also, the allocation disbursed to the 16 local government areas of the state depreciated in the month under review by 4.12 per cent.
On Thursday, the Commissioner for Finance and Planning in Kwara State, Ms Florence Olasumbo Oyeyemi, disclosed in a statement that for the month of November 2020, the state received N3.4 billion from the federal purse.
According to her, this is N364.5 million lower than the allocation for October which was N3.7 billion, a decline in the last two months.
She said the breakdown of the November allocation for the state showed a statutory revenue allocation (SRA) of N1.8 billion, value added tax (VAT) of N1.2 billion; forex equilibrium of N40.3 million, excess crude of N392.9 million, excess bank charges of N6.3 million and (part loan) deductions of N310.7 million.
In the statement, the Commissioner noted that the 16 local government areas of the state received N2.3 billion in the month, N228.8 million less than N2.4 billion received as the allocation for October.
Allocations to the local government areas have also dropped for two consecutive months, which led to the LGAs augmenting their November allocation with N194 million from their savings of N435 million to be able to pay full salary and some other obligations, Ms Oyeyemi said.
The breakdown of the councils’ allocation for November indicated they got SRA of N.3 billion, VAT of N674.1 million, forex equilibrium N26.6 million, excess crude of N259.1 million, excess bank charges of N4.1 million and federal government deductions of N106.0 million.
Adedapo Adesanya