Halt N7bn govt house project, group tells Zamfara govt

The Zamfara state Budget Working Group, a non partisan politics group, in the state has challenged Zamfara state government to give reasons for earmarking the sum of N7 billion in its 2020 appropriation bill to build a new befitting Government House project in Gusau the state capital.

The group described the project as a wasted effort and dead on arrival. It therefore called on the state government to halt the project and concentrate on the well-being of the teeming populace.

Chairman of the group, Anas Sani Anka, said in a statement  in Gusau the state capital Sunday that: “From 2011 to date, the Internally Generated Revenue of Zamfara state hardly goes beyond a chunk of N3b per annum and the major source of this revenue is Pay as You Earn  (PYE) which is  a mere deduction from the worker’s salary,” he  stated.

Anka  lamented that majority of the rural communities that are known for agricultural activities have been ransacked by years of bandit’s activities and the local farmers in the affected communities were either killed or forced out of their homes and made to be permanent as Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) or refugees.

“The state had loss a stake in the mining and exploration of the solid minerals potentials, hence, not a dime is collected as revenue from the billions of naira solid deposits that were tapped out of the state by few privileged Nigerians.  Also, not a single kobo is again generated from our aged long tourism potentials, even as we have the famous Kuyan Bana outlets, Kalale Game Reserve, the famous Kwatarkwashi rock which is among the ten best world over,” Anas Anka said.

He stated that  Zamfara is among  five top states in terms of high profile of debt comprising of internal and external loans and also the  least in terms of payment of salary of  civil servants during the pàst administrations.

His said: “Our performance in terms of WAEC and NECO for the past eight years is always the last, making it difficult for most of our younger ones to proceed and fill the state vacancies at our tertiary institutions and colleges and also the security challenges the state is ravaged with which requires not only the governor’s attention, but huge amount of money to effect some social and economic policy reforms to the victim communities than to spend such huge amount to that gigantic project.” 

He further pointed out that, the economic capacity of the state is both weak and ineffective hence even in the maiden budget of the present governor, he is planning to borrow over N50b to fund the budget.

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