Chairman of Gwagwalada Area Council in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Alhaji Abubakar Jibrin Giri, has disclosed that primary school teachers under the Local Education Authority (LEA) always take the largest chunk of the money allocated to the council, saying the amount that goes for payment of teachers alone is N137 million monthly.
Speaking through the secretary of the council, Alhaji Usman Yahaya, the council boss said the amount published in the media was not the actual amount that always accrues to the council, saying some statutory deductions are made after the Joint Account Allocation Committee (JAAC) before the remaining would now be left for area councils to share.
He said the council chairmen have always struggled to pay workers’ salaries due to dwindling allocations.
According to him, the council last week received N56 million after the JAAC meeting, saying the sum of N150 million has to go for the payment of salaries for staff, security aides, cleaners, among others, even as he said the council had to go to bank to obtain over-draft in order to pay September salaries.
He noted that the area councils in the territory are handicapped as far as revenue generation was concerned, even as he said the situation at the federal level was also the same in terms of revenue generation.
The council chairman explained that it has always been his desire to provide the needed social amenities that would have direct bearing on the lives of residents of the council, but the council is constrained due to lack of funds.
“Despite the challenge of lack of funds which the council has been facing since assumption of office, we have been trying our best to provide transformers, completion of roads and health centres across some communities. In fact, just last week all my aides forfeited their salaries for the repair and filling of some potholes within the metropolis,” he said.
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