July 16, (THEWILL) – Following the Supreme Court judgement granting financial autonomy to the 774 local government councils in the country, the Deputy Governor of Bayelsa State, Senator Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, has clarified that the State Government only supervised the councils to drive grassroots development.
Ewhrudjakpo stated this on Tuesday, when the Bayelsa State chapter of the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) paid him a courtesy visit at Government House, Yenagoa.
He said the joint account with the councils had afforded the government the opportunity to supervise its eight councils for prudent utilisation of funds to execute rural projects in the various local government areas.
According to the Deputy Governor, the Prosperity Government has never and will not tamper with council funds, but rather support the councils to meet their obligations at the grassroots level.
Ewhrudjakpo restated that the Bayelsa Government augments the payment of primary school teachers’ monthly salaries in addition to giving funding support for primary healthcare services, and education authorities across the state.
He insisted that Bayelsa had made remarkable progress in rural development through prudent management of resources by the local government councils due to effective supervision from the State Government.
The Deputy Governor, who thanked the NULGE for its support to the government and condolences over the passing of his brother, promised to convey its requests, including a call for a stakeholders’ meeting to discuss how to relate with the councils.
He, however, pointed out that the convocation of the summit would depend on the outcome of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum meeting scheduled for this week to review the Supreme Court judgement on local government autonomy.
“What we have done for the local government system is quite significant and speaks volumes. We met local government councils in February 2020, which could not pay staff salaries without borrowing every month. But all that is now history. Today, the councils are awarding and executing contracts under the supervision of the State Government.
“We did not tamper with councils’ funds and will never do so. We only supervise to ensure a prudent utilisation of funds to foster grassroots development. So, financially, the State Government will not lose anything as a result of the Supreme Court ruling on local government autonomy,” he explained.
Speaking earlier, the State NULGE President, Comrade Thank-God Singer, expressed fears that the laudable local government reforms initiated by the present administration might not be sustained if local governments are left without supervision from the State Government.
He, therefore, called on the government to convene a stakeholders’ summit to discuss and work out modalities on how to safeguard the local government reforms in the state vis-a-vis the recent Supreme Court ruling on local government autonomy.
Comrade Singer, who, on behalf of the Union, condoled the Deputy Governor over the demise of his brother, appealed to the State Government to provide a bus for the Union and consider qualified council staff for appointment as permanent secretaries.
Singer said: “When some of our colleagues called me after the Supreme Court judgement, I told them the judgement will not do any new thing to us because we have been enjoying financial autonomy here in Bayelsa.
“Before this government came, most of our councils were insolvent. But today, almost all of them are solvent and can pay salaries and even execute projects because of your able supervision, your reforms and labour-friendly disposition.”
In a related development, the State Deputy Governor, Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, has appealed to the principal officers of the eight local government councils to groom and build capacity in their subordinates to sustain effective service delivery.
He made the appeal at a meeting with heads and directors of administration, and their finance counterparts drawn from the eight local governments in the state.
The Deputy Governor, who thanked the principal officers for their support for the staff computerisation programme, advised them to always guide the elected chairmen and their councillors to make the right decisions to manage the councils.
He noted that as a state in a hurry to develop, Bayelsa could not afford to leave the councils at the mercy of people with no requisite experience in administration, adding that the right modalities would be worked out for the smooth administration of the local government system.
Earlier in his remarks, the Chairman of the Principal Officers Forum, Comrade Clement Etifa, appreciated the State Government for its policies, which he noted are helping to strengthen the local government sector for effective and efficient service delivery.
Comrade Etifa used the opportunity to commiserate with the Deputy Governor over the loss of his brother and prayed to God to give him and his family the strength to overcome the bereavement.
Amos Okioma is a Correspondent at THEWILL
