Zamfara blows N2 billion on Ramadan gifts

[DT]

The Zamfara State Government's spending on Ramadan gifts has ballooned to N2.7 billion, Information commissioner Ibrahim Birnin Magaji said yesterday, with less than two weeks to the end of the Muslim fasting month.  

Government announced the spending earlier last month saying N1 billion was to be spent on buying foodstuffs and clothes to be given to the less privileged in the state.  

Birnin-Magaji yesterday said the expenditure has shot up to N2.7 billion.

"The total amount of money expended on the purchase of items distributed to the needy in across 14 local government area of Zamfara state for Ramadan is 2.7 billion naira," he told Daily Trust in Gusau.

He said government has purchased and disbursed 84,000 bags of rice, 33,600 bags of sugar, 12,600 bags of millet, 8,400 bags of maize and 8,400 bags of sorghum.

"In each of the 2516 polling units of the state, we gave 170 women 6 yards of wax and 110 men 5 yards of brocade to assist them during this period. This gesture was conceived as part of the state government efforts to assist the people of the state to perform their religion obligation well," the commissioner added.

The huge spending on Ramadan gifts is likely to raise some eyebrows because Zamfara is one of the poorest, rustic states where critical infrastructure is lacking, and government depends heavily on federal subventions.

Some other northern states have similarly announced spendings on Ramadan gifts, but Zamfara's N2.7 billion for a population of just over 3.2 million dwarfs the N146 million being spent by the Kano State Government for a population of more than 9.3 million.

Zamfara's Ramadan gift figures are also higher than the average of about N2.5 billion monthly revenue that the state receives from the Federation Account.

But the information commissioner said there was nothing wrong in the project.

"There is nothing bad in spending the state's money on food stuffs for distribution to the people of the state," he said. "The money is for them and as such, the state government will continue to use it to meet their need and aspiration. This expenditure does not stop us from embarking on infrastructural development."

He said state government only last week awarded contract for the construction of three roads covering a total of 244 kilometres for N25 billion and that the state is spending N13 billion on the reconstruction of Mayanchi-Anka-Bukkuyum- Gummi roads which are Federal roads.

"We will continue to empower the people of our state even as we work hard to fast track the development of Zamfara state irrespective of what the opposition are saying," he added.

Our correspondent gathered that a bag of rice in Gusau market goes for N8,000, sugar goes for N9,000, millet goes for, N8,000, and sorghum is N8,000 per bag.

The commissioner said the state government has also established 189 feeding points across the state.

"Aside from these food stuffs, we have also established feeding points and we are spending over N100 million on it. We have 150 centres in Gusau, the state capital and in the remaining 13 local government areas, we have three each," Birnin-Magaji added.

When asked whether the expenditure was captured in the 2012 budget, he said, "There is no how a state government will embark on expenditure of this magnitude without it being captured in the budget. It was under social sector in the budget. The project was approved during the state executive council meeting."

Daily Trust