TheCable

Nasir El-Rufai, governor of Kaduna, says the state will stop relying on federal government allocation in the next four to five years.

States get monthly allocation from the federation account to run their affairs.

On Thursday, El-Rufai said Kaduna is now getting more from internally generated revenue (IGR).

With the increasing IGR, which stood at N50.9 billion in 2020, the governor said in the future, the state would only go to the federation account out of courtesy.

“In our last budget, 60 percent of our budget came from federal account and 40 per cent from IGR,” he said at the 147th meeting of the state’s joint task board.

“But the way we are going, with very hard working internal revenue service team, in the next four to five years we will get to a point where we will only go to federation account only out of courtesy not because we need the money.

“We are focused on running the government and doing development projects entirely from tax collection, we don’t want to depend on the federation account, that’s our goal.

“And when you contribute, you will see the development, you will see the result.

“This result you will see through free education, 12 years of free education not nine years like other states.

“In Kaduna, it is not just basic education, but free education for junior secondary school and senior secondary and primary which is all financed from taxes.

“We provide primary health care free to children under the age of five and to all pregnant women, and all senior citizens above the age of 70 get free health care, all from taxation.”

The governor said his administration is committed to showing the people that the payment of tax is not a burden, but a contribution to development.

He said the government is also expanding infrastructure, including water supply and investment in electrification.

“Our motto is to for service; we want you to pay tax and ask us what we do with the tax money and we can show you what we have done,” he said.

He said many people in the state are beginning to voluntarily pay tax for the first time in more than 20 years.

Meanwhile, the Kaduna government has also advocated for public-private partnership to improve education in the state.

Shehu Usman Muhammad, the commissioner for education, spoke at the handing over of 20 units of toilet facilities to Government Secondary School Unguwar Rimi.

The facilities were built by the parents-teachers association (PTA) of Zamani College.

The commissioner said lack of toilets is one of the factors that contribute to low school enrolment, especially among female pupils.

He said the Kaduna government has been allocating huge resources to education in its yearly budget but said there is a need for synergy between private individuals, organisations, and the government.