The Kwara State governor, Alhaji AbdulFatah Ahmed, yesterday explained that the need to ensure the welfare of the civil servants caused the state's recurrent expenditure to outweigh the capital expenditure in his government's 2013 budget proposal.

Ahmed made the clarification in Ilorin, the state capital, during his monthly media chat tagged, 'The Governor Explains.'

"The state is largely a civil service-driven state, just like the LGs and FG. The recurrent expenditure is high because we need to take care of the civil servants. We cannot afford to reduce the workforce," he said.

Ahmed further dismissed insinuations that his government was concentrating developmental projects in a section of the state, insisting that his administration had ensured equitable distribution of projects across the three senatorial districts of the state.

According to him, "the needs of the three senatorial districts of the state are being addressed in equal proportions. While we are expending over N2.7 billion on rural roads in our villages across the state, we are also ensuring the completion of on-going projects in the state capital."

He disclosed plans by his administration to generate economic activities that would bring about employment opportunities for the people of the state.

"The Shoprite that we brought here has created employment opportunities for our people. More of such job yielding ventures would be attracted to the state in the interest of Kwarans," the governor stated.