Kwara Governor warns against hate speech

Kwara state governor, Abdulfatah Ahmed has cautioned religious and political leaders in the state against hate speeches and incitements.

While meeting with various religious leaders, political leaders, labour leaders and members of security and executive councils at the Government House, Ilorin, yesterday, Tuesday, August 22, 2017, he cautioned opinion leaders and other members of the public against utterances that could overheat the polity.

While emphasizing the need for constructive criticism for improved governance, Governor Ahmed stressed that criticism must be separated from incitements in order to move the state forward.

The state's Commissioner of Police, Lawan Ado, also maintained that hate speeches would be treated as terrorism in line with the directive of Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo at the recently held National Economic Council Security Summit in Abuja.

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While also addressing the outstanding salaries owed at local government level, Governor Ahmed challenged serving Transition Implementation Committees (TIC) and prospective local government chairmen to show capacity to raise revenues, saying that local government councils in the state had not done enough in revenue generation.

He said, "Councils' business has moved beyond reliance on federal allocation for survival to a new level where council authorities must be resourceful by thinking outside the box to raise their internally generated revenues to augment payment of salaries and execute developmental projects."

Governor Ahmed assured the committees that the state government would continue to give necessary support to local government councils to improve their revenues and meet their obligations.