By Abdullahi Yusuf
Kano State Government has approved the release of N4,882,378,071 for the execution of various projects in the State.
This is contained in a statement signed and issued to newsmen in Kano on Friday by the Director Special Duties in the state Ministry of Information,Sani Abba Yola.
Yola said the approval was disclosed by the State Commissioner of Information, Baba Halilu Dantiye, while briefing newsmen on the outcome of the 5th meeting of the State Executive Council.
Dantiye said that the council had approved N3,577,288,540 to the Ministry of Higher Education for the sponsorship of 550 qualified state indigenes for postgraduate studies abroad, while N544,321,168 was approved to the Ministry of Education for the payment of of outstanding funds in respect of boarding schools students’ feeding.
He also disclosed that the sum of N79,284,537 was also approved by the council to facilitate the renovation of 11 closed boarding schools in the state, while N131,500,000 had been approved for the conduct of the 2023 internal Examination (BECE/BEICE AND SSQE/SAISQ/TAHFEEZ &TAJWEE).
The Commissioner revealed that hundreds of millions of Naira had been approved for the state Ministry of Works and Housing which included N172,528,572 for the settlement of outstanding liability for the completion of Kano State liaison office Abuja
He said N111,990,955 had also been approved for the repairs and maintenance Works at Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso and Obasanjo Flyovers in Kano Municipal Local Government Area, while N22,164,893 was approved for the construction of 2 Multi-Cell box culverts at Rafin Gora and Rafin Zur in Yelwa ward, Rano Local Government Area.
Similarly, Dantiye said,the sum of N69,039,407 was approved to the Ministry of Health for the procurement of HIV rapid test kids by Kano State Agency for the Control of Aids, while N15, 274,640 was approved to the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change for the conduct of annual Mosquito vector and rodents control in the state.
The Commissioner further revealed that N1, 693,000 was approved to the office of Head of Civil Service for payment of bereaved family allowances in respect of 34 additional deceased civic servants in the state between January, 2023 to July, 2023.
Other resolutions of the Council,the Commissioner said, included the re-introduction of Kwankwasiyya medical outreach programme across the 44 Local Government Areas and the re-introduction of foreign scholarship to state indigenes commencing with 55 qualified applicants for postgraduate studies.
He said the council had directed the state Ministries of Finance in collaboration with the Office o the state Auditor General to conduct a Bio-metric data capture and verification exercise for all state and local government Staff pensioners.
Dantiye added that the council had constituted a State and Local Governments Payroll Standing Committee to ensure prudent salary administration in the state.