Minister, Ahmed at war over N189bn revenue

Minister of National Planning, Dr. Abubakar Sulaimanthe Minister of National Planning, Dr. Abubakar Sulaiman, said that the Kwara State Government had earned about N189bn from 2011 till date.He stated that the amount was made up of N139bn from the Federation Account and N50bn from Internally Generated Revenue.The minister stated that the state government had not made judicious use of this money. According to him, the state government cannot point at any strategic achievement it has used the money for. He also said there was a mismanagement of resources and corruption in the state.Speaking during a media briefing in Ilorin on Tuesday, he said that the state lacked basic infrastructure and human capital development. He also said that the state civil servants were the least paid in the country.He, however, commended the residents of the state, members of the Peoples Democratic Party and those of the All Progressives Congress for giving President Goodluck Jonathan, who is the PDP presidential candidate, their good conduct and the rousing welcome he received during his presidential campaign rally in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital. He described the PDP as a united family in KwaraThe minister alleged that the real owners of some notable investments and institutions in the state, said to be owned by the state government, were controversial.Sulaiman claimed that the Federal Government had re-modelled the Ilorin International Airport and expanded the cargo terminal as well as dualised the Ibadan-Ilorin section II Expressway.Some other achievements of the government, he said, included the “Expansion of Oko Olowo Igbeti road; the expansion of the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital permanent site; rehabilitation and expansion of Ilorin-Jebba-Mokwa road; the rehabilitation of rail line from Lagos to Kano through Ilorin and intercity passengers’ services between Offa-Kano express train services and that of Lagos-Ibadan -Ilorin -Lagos train.”Both the Kwara State Commissioner for Information, Mr. Tunji Moronfoye and the Senior Special Assistant to Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed on Media and Communication, Dr. Muyideen Akorede, said theminister was unfair in his assessment of the performance of the state government.They also said there was no mismanagement of resources and corruption by the state government.Moronfoye said it was untrue that the civil servants in the state were the least paid in the federation.He said, “The minister is an Abuja-based politician. He is not on ground to see and appreciate the large scale infrastructural provision and human capital development of the state government.”