By Hussaini Ibrahim
The Dispute Resolution and Development Initiative has called for urgent fiscal reforms, improved budget execution and enhanced transparency across local government councils in Kano State following the release of its five-year budget analysis covering 2020 to 2024.
The call was contained in a statement issued to The Triumph on Thursday and signed by the Executive Director of DRDI, Dr Muhammad Mustapha Yahaya.
According to the statement, the analysis covered six local governments—Bichi, Dambatta, Fagge, Karaye, Tudun-Wada and Kano Municipal—and revealed that more than 70 per cent of their total allocations were spent on recurrent expenditure, leaving limited funds for capital projects in critical sectors such as education, health, agriculture and gender/WASH.
Dr Yahaya said the study, conducted using data from the Kano State Ministry for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, audit records and other credible sources, assessed allocations, releases and expenditures while identifying fiscal gaps undermining transparency and accountability at the grassroots.
He noted that despite rising allocations between 2020 and 2024, capital spending remained low, with most LGAs relying almost entirely on federal allocations as internally generated revenue stayed below 10 per cent due to weak systems and leakages.
“Poor documentation, limited transparency, and disruptions from COVID-19 and subsidy removal further hindered budget performance and project execution,” he said.
The DRDI boss urged LGAs to rebalance spending towards capital and social sectors by reducing recurrent costs, improve budget execution through timely releases and quarterly monitoring, and regularly publish approved budgets, releases and expenditure reports.
He added that Kano Municipal and Fagge LGAs could pilot open-budget dashboards to enhance public access and tracking of spending.
Dr Yahaya also called for strengthened IGR, recommending automated tax collection and tighter enforcement in urban LGAs, while urging rural councils to harness agricultural markets and levies transparently.
He lamented underperformance in Karaye and Bichi, urging them to prioritise completion of stalled education and health projects, and advocated broader agricultural support beyond fertiliser procurement.
Concluding, he called for full implementation of public finance management laws and stricter legislative oversight to ensure transparency, accountability and improved service delivery at the local government level.
