In line with the current economic situation occasioned by dwindling revenue, the Kwara State government has concluded plans to reduce the number of ministries and appointments.

Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed gave the indication while flagging off distribution of 42 buses for the state Harmony Transport Services, popularly known as Kwara Express.

The federal government-assisted mass transit buses were acquired at a cost of N270.6 million to beef up the fleet of the transport corporation which was recently handed over to Harmony Holdings to manage.

The governor assured workers of the company of their jobs.

He said: "Let me state clearly that no staff of the defunct corporation will lose his/her job on account of its take-over. You have a choice to remain in Harmony Transport Services Limited or seek redeployment back to the core civil service. Either way, your jobs are safe".

Ahmed maintained that the current economic downturn necessitated the introduction of new reforms to reposition the state and achieve economic prosperity desired by Kwarans.

"The Kwara State of our dream still requires hard work and sacrifice by everyone of us. We must seize the current economic situation as an opportunity to diversify our economy and eliminate wastages. In doing so, we will better fund our development by reforming the revenue generation and collection process. This will reduce our reliance on federally allocated revenue. In line with this reality, we will also streamline ministries and appointments to reduce the cost of governance. Some of you may find the reforms we are implementing difficult. I admit that change is often hard to accept and challenging to achieve. But I assure you that Kwara State will come out better and stronger", he said.