TheCable

The Kaduna government has sacked 313 district heads and 4,453 village chiefs in the state.

Speaking with journalists on Sunday, Jafaru Ibrahim Sani, commissioner for local government and chieftaincy affairs, said all districts and village units created in 2001 have been abolished.

Sani said only the 77 districts and 1,429 village units that existed before 2001 were recognised by the state government.

The commissioner said the creation of 313 more districts and 4,453 village heads increased the number of the district heads to 390 and village heads to 5,882,

He said restructuring of the traditional institution is in the bid to reduce bloated payroll on local governments.

“One of the problems this government inherited is the practical insolvency of many local government councils. Some local government councils are unable to pay their bills, especially salaries, without support from the state government,” Sani said.

“The bloated wage bills of these councils indicate that they are carrying more than they can bear. That is why for two years many local government councils were unable  to pay their district and village heads. Due to the Governor’s kind intervention, at least 85 per cent of these district and village heads have now being paid two years’ salary en bloc.Before 2001, Kaduna State had only 77 districts and 1,429 village units.

“Government have not seen any objective criteria or a strategic consideration that concluded that the proliferation of districts was either sustainable or crucial to delivering public goods or promoting harmony at the grass roots.

“This government has decided to resolve the situation in the longer-term interest of the state. Our local governments must be freed from the stranglehold of bloated payrolls so that they can devote more of their resources to providing public goods.”