The Kwara State Government has settled the ₦22.5million outstanding licence fees to the National Broadcasting Commission, which accumulated since 2006.
The state governor, Mallam Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq, gave the approval for the immediate payment of the ₦22.5m to the Commission.
The NBC, last Friday, closed down Radio Kwara FM 99.1, AM and Kwara Television stations and 49 other Radio and Television stations across the country over backlog of debt owed by the media stations.
However, the Kwara State Commissioner for Communications, Mr Olabode Towoju, in a statement issued on Wednesday night in Ilorin, stated that the state government had paid ₦10m out of the initial ₦32.5m debt in September last year.
According to Towoju, in the statement signed by the Press Secretary in the Ministry of Communications, Ayobami Ashaolu, “Kwara State is blessed with a responsible and highly responsive governor. This debt was passed down from the previous administrations in the state since 2006.
“As someone who puts Kwara first, the governor is committed to meeting people’s expectations and exceeding such, and this can also be likened to the way he promptly paid off the UBEC counterpart funds that the administration before him did not pay.
“Undoubtedly, Kwara is indeed blessed with a good governor. No wonder he has been named the ‘Exceptional Governor.’”
The commissioner added, “The way Mallam Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq has been releasing funds to various sectors of the state to ensure a smooth running of the system is highly commendable.
“He believes in results and as a ‘no-excuse’ man, once the funds are released, there is no excuse for you not to deliver.
“It could be recalled that on assumption of office, the governor released funds for the accreditation of courses in state-owned tertiary institutions because of his commitment to the education sector, and not only that, our health system has never had it this good”, Towoju said.
The commissioner urged the people of the state to rest assured that the administration was committed to ensuring that the state remained a “moving and progressive state,” and called on the people of the state to “put Kwara first” in all their dealings.
