Kaduna govt empowers 4,912 women

The Kaduna State government has empowered 4,912 women under its poverty alleviation programme.

Ayuba Bello, Principal Private Secretary to Uba Sani, governor of Kaduna State, who disclosed this in Kaduna said the government had supported 100 food vendors during the Kaduna Food Festival.

According to him, the government has instituted a revolving loan scheme to enable civil servants to meet their financial needs “with seed of N500 million at a single digit rate of five per cent.”

“This initiative aims to promote access funds for civil servants to meet financial obligations.

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“More so, the administration has been clearing pension arrears. The state government has, to date, paid approximately N4.7 billion for clearance of death and gratuity benefits”, the PPS said.

Speaking further, Bello said: “As servants of the people, the Uba Sani government places great premium on accountability.

“Transparency and accountability are not principles to be trivialised. Last month, the Centre for Fiscal Transparency and Public Integrity Watch (CeFTPIW) ranked Kaduna State as the first subnational in its Transparency and Public Integrity Index.

“The ranking, which was done for the entire 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, placed Kaduna State as number 1, with a score of 51. 42, in its 2024 Integrity Index Report.”

Bello said in the last 18 months since Sani assumed office, the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) profile of the state has improved saying, “Last November, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) released the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) of all in the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and Kaduna State raked in N62.49 billion last year, emerging the state with the highest IGR earnings in the North.”

He said Sani’s policy of financial inclusion and widening the tax net and the reorganisation of the Kaduna State Internal Revenue Service (KADIRS) is responsible for the feat.

The PPS said since Sani came on board, KADIRS has been expanding the tax net in a horizontal manner as against the vertical approach of the past, which led to stagnation.