As part of its efforts to restructure the traditional institutions and reduce the burden of a bloated payroll obligation on local government councils in the State, Kaduna state government has sacked 313 district and 4,453 village heads.
Commissioner for Local Government Affairs, Alhaji Jafaru Ibrahim Sani, disclosed that the state government has reverted to the 77 districts and 1,429 village units that existed prior to 2001, while the 313 district heads and 4,453 village heads appointed after year 2001 are to go.
Speaking during a news conference in Kaduna to announce the decision, Sani said government had consulted the state Council of Chiefs, which endorsed the restructuring.
He added that the creation of 313 more districts from 2001 increased the number of district heads to 390, which along with personnel in the district office, added more than 2,700 employees to the payroll of the local government councils.
He stated that a committee set up to address the administration of districts concluded that the situation created a financial burden for local government councils.
“The state government is happily and conscientiously supporting all the 32 emirs and chiefs in Kaduna state. It is the duty of the state government to pay the salaries and allowances of all the 32 chiefs. And the state government shall continue to be responsible for all our graded chiefs.
“This support includes providing official vehicles which have now been purchased for distribution to the third-class chiefs and the maintenance of palaces, 10 of which have recently been renovated.”
He states that “By the provision of the Local Government Administration Law (2012), it is the responsibility of the local government councils to cater for the 390 district heads.
The commissioner however observed that while the state government was comfortably discharging its obligations to the 32 chiefs, the local government councils were not able to do the same for their district heads, which led to the restructuring to scale down the financial burden on the Local Government Councils.
