Kwara State Governor, Alhaji  Abdulfatah Ahmed, at the weekend, raised an alarm over the current problem of funds shortfalls being experienced by the 36 states of the federation on their monthly federal allocations.

Ahmed, however, said the development might forestall the desire and commitment of the states to fully implementing their budget and development projects for their people.

Ahmed, who was a former Commissioner for Finance and Economic Panning in the state, during the immediate past administration of former Governor Bukola Saraki, disclosed this in Ilorin, while speaking at his monthly radio/television interactive programme tagged: “Governor Explains.”

He expressed concern that "Kwara State, like most states in the country, was now bedevilled with slow pace in development projects."

The governor said the states had been bedevilled with shortfall of funds, following the decision of the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), to remove the augmentation on monthly allocation to the states, resulting in low funds from the federal allocations."

Ahmed, who said the funds shortfall had been happening in the last three to four months among states and local government areas, added that the development had been discouraging the delivery of democracy dividends to the people.

The governor said the shortfall was being felt by the state governments because they had already input of the finances into their budgetary allocations.

"It's already affecting our capital projects. We may not execute our budget, as it is already affecting us in the slow pace of various development work," he added.

Ahmed also noted that the state government may soon take bond from the money market and also boost its Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), adding that steps were being considered as part of measures to help meet the  challenges of the shortfalls.

"We would continue to borrow money to help us develop from one level to another level and afford us to do long term capital projects. You can't always depend on your monthly allocation for some capital projects.

"The ability to liquidate borrowing is a different factor. It's only when you can't repay what you borrow that problem comes in. Talking on our capacity, we should know that lenders won't give out money in the first instance if you don't have the capacity to pay back.

So, when people hear that we are going to borrow, they should know that it's not a sign of incapacity. Another reason is that all what you'll use the money for will be discussed before you are given a loan or bond. What we can assure our people is that we'll be transparent in all our dealings. If a state does not borrow, it means it is operating within its monthly allocation," he said.