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Tag: ‘Councils

  • Kwara councils to get N2b loan for Nov salary

    The 16 council chairmen in Kwara State have decided to obtain a N2.1 billion loan from commercial banks to pay November salary and settle other needs.

    According to them, this followed the delay in November allocation from the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC).

    Commissioner for Local Government, Chieftaincy Affairs and Community Development Haruna Tanbiri Muhammad spoke in Ilorin after the emergency Joint Account Allocation Committee (JAAC).

    He said the chairmen applied for the loan in anticipation of November allocation, noting that the delay in disbursement from FAAC had aggravated workers’ suffering.

    He explained that the salary of State Universal Education Board (SUBEB) teachers stand at N900 million, and pensions N278.9.

    Muhammad maintained that the statutory allocation is N2.1 million, as against N1.6 million in October, and 10 per cent IGR is N37.3 million.

    The commissioner said N280 million was deducted at source as repayment for the N4.8 billion loan councils obtained in 2015 to pay salary, adding that they shared N676.8 million in November.

    “The Kwara State government has not received its November allocation from the federation account and the council chairmen felt getting a loan became necessary to alleviate workers’ plight,” he added.

  • Oyo striking schools to get councils

    The Oyo State government has said it will, this week, set up governing councils for the six striking state-owned tertiary institutions.

    It described the measure as a “holistic view” of addressing challenges in the sector.

    The government, however, said it was not owing 15-month arrears, as workers in the institutions claim.

    Last Friday, members of academic and non-academic staff unions in the six institutions began an indefinite strike.

    Protests were held simultaneously in Ibadan, the state capital; Oyo, Saki, Igboora, Eruwa and Lanlate.

    The affected schools are: Oyo State College of Agriculture and Technology (OYSCATECH); The Ibarapa Polytechnic, Eruwa; The Polytechnic, Ibadan; The Oke-Ogun Polytechnic, Saki; The College of Education, Lanlate and Emmanuel Alayande College of Education (EACOED), Oyo.

    Workers initially gave a 14-day ultimatum to the government, saying they embarked on the strike to protest cut in their salary by 25 per cent and unpaid 13 to 15 months’ arrears.

    Speaking after a meeting with heads of the institutions, Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology Prof. Adeniyi Olowofela said the government was looking at how to resolve their problems.

    The commissioner noted that despite workers’ claims, the government is neither owing them nor stopped paying subvention to the schools.

    He said: “We have just met with heads of tertiary institutions and we are making progress. One of the issues has been addressed. Ordinarily, governing councils are supposed to be managing institutions.

    “So, we are not looking at the issues from microscopic perspectives; we are looking at the problems holistically and solve them downwards.

    “This week, by the grace of God, we are going to constitute the governing councils for the tertiary institutions. That is one of the fallouts of the meeting. Subsequently, the issue of funding will be resolved.

    “But, as I said, subvention is support, and government has not reneged in granting subventions to the institutions. We have not reneged. However, if the subvention is not enough, it is a different ball game.´

    On claims of insufficient funds to the schools, Olowofela insisted that the amount given to each school was based on what the government could afford at the moment.

    He said: “When you are talking about percentages, what you called 25 per cent might actually be a 100 per cent. If you say you are offering assistance to somebody, the assistance is dependent on the situation. Currently, what we are saying is that, yes, we used to give a certain amount of subvention, but now it is that amount divided by four. It is still subvention because it is still assistance.

    “That is what we have the capacity to do or that we can afford this time around. So, we must be careful when we are misconstruing the concept of owing workers certain percentages of salary. No, we are not owing.”

  • President Buhari: Why constitute boards and councils you won’t inaugurate six months after? – A Dirge

    With a party in almost total disarray at the leadership level, where exactly does the APC expect to draw its support from come 2019?

    Roared the public announcement from the Federal Ministry of Education, April 22, 2017:, ‘President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the reconstitution of the boards of 19 agencies and parastatals under the Federal Ministry of Education for a period of four years. In doing this, continued the announcement by Mrs Chinenye Ihuoma of the ministry, the President took into cognizance provisions of the respective legislation with respect to composition, competence, credibility, integrity, federal character and geo-political spread”. Of course, as has become usual with this administration, the second part of that statement is not true. Miffed with himself as much as the columnist is writing this, facts are facts and they are sacred. The same motive that could make Biodun Jeyifo, a professor and colleague columnist on this newspaper who has been very supportive of the president’s anti-corruption programme, railing ceaselessly at some senior lawyers trying to hamstrung it write as quoted below, is what inspires some of the things you would be reading in this piece. Wrote Jeyifo in his column of Sunday, August 27, 2017: “I suggest that what we are witnessing is the fact that with the coming to power of Muhammadu Buhari as President and the APC as the new ruling political party at the centre, all the lies, all the deceits and all the delusions of our political elites in all the ruling class political parties proffering themselves as the champions and standard bearers of our country’s unity and corporate existence have been exposed in a way that had hitherto had been impossible.” He wrote further: “On the personal level, without descending into insult and calumny, I cannot but say with all the emphasis that I can muster that Buhari has turned out to be one of the most parochial, sectionalist and nepotistic rulers we have ever had in this country. This is a man who enjoyed – and probably still enjoys – respect and even sedulous followership all over the country, well beyond his own regional and local neck of the woods. But now, it is an understatement to say that his blatant and even arrogant sectionalism has caused a deep crisis of credibility.”

    For this article, I am expecting a rather well-deserved roasting in the social media. Even though I have severally criticised the president for his very insensitive appointments, especially the in-explainable architecture of the country’s security apparatti which has guaranteed  that murderous Fulani herdsmen have roamed , uncensored,  on their killing forays into other peoples’ lands, and not forgetting  my criticising him for narrowing key and very sensitive appointments  to Hausa/Fulani and Kanuris, my traducers will, very conveniently, forget all that but remember, without fail, the ringing support I have always  given the government in the sure belief that President Buhari is an unmatchable, incorruptible patriot. And please, don’t go telling me his appointments corrupt the system as I am zero-ing in here on a comparison between him and the Presidents we had during the massive looting of our common patrimony during the PDP’s  16-year stranglehold.

    They are, of course, incomparable.

    What therefore rankles  the most about the constitution of boards of agencies and parastatals under the ministry of education is not only that the ministry, under a minister of northern extraction, could gloat uproariously about being sensitive to federal character  in the appointments even with 15 out  of the 21 Chairmen in the colleges of education, 10 out  of  25 in the Polytechnics  and  12 out of the 19 in the mostly regulatory agencies and para-statals under  the ministry all going to the north, is that six months after that announcement, nothing has changed as none of the supposedly brand  new boards has been inaugurated. And let nobody ascribe this to President Buhari’s indisposition as examples are legion, even on You tube, of ministers inaugurating boards of their respective ministries.

    I do not see any of these appointments as doing anybody a favour since the boards and councils are meant to guide and assist the administration of these various institutions by putting in place policies and ensuring their compliance in running the institutions since, as we recently saw in the case of the National Health Insurance Scheme, many are they, who believe they can run them like their fiefdom.

    As in the case of the ‘lost and found’ Universities (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Amendment) Act 2003, otherwise called the Universities Autonomy Act, which was ferreted out by ASUU and Femi Falana SAN, when the Education Minister was performing some abracadabra within the universities, I am sure there is also a document setting out the constitution and functions of these various organisations which, by failing to inaugurate the boards, the minister has, curiously, put in limbo for six months. Without a doubt, and as is usual with Nigerians, the respective heads of these organisations must have been acting like sole administrators, though all reporting to the all powerful minister.

    How can officials of state be this arrogantly disrespectful of not only persons, but institutions of state too?

    But it is not only disrespect that is motivating this; rather, it is crass opportunism being used to disguise ethnicity. As you read this, literally all the executives running the core agencies in the ministry,  like TETFUND and UBEC, are under the headship of northerners whilst southerners are consigned to those agencies which require real hard work like the National Library of Nigeria and others in that category. It is obviously in order not to upset the apple cart that Adamu Adamu, who is being assisted as minister of education, by a highly experienced professor from the south, is not keen about inaugurating the boards. It is beyond him to realise that most of these appointees, especially those from the south, are reputable and very busy people who, put in the lurch in this highly arrogant manner, are stopped from properly planning their schedules and itinerary. This becomes more ingratiating when you realise that these people were appointed either for their competences and past service to the country, like Professor Bayo Banjo, or for their expertise and contribution to the Buhari victory which some people now see solely as theirs.

    I am also reliably informed that this is not limited to the ministry of education because as you read this, I am told that not all the boards of Nigeria’s 12 River Basin Development Authorities have been inaugurated. One can only hope this is not true. The question then is this, if constituted boards are not inaugurated, six months after,  how can this government even remember that more than two years of  assuming office, the president is yet to constitute the boards of most of the government’s enterprises? Is it too much to expect that high ranking party members, who gave of their best to ensure that Buhari smelt victory the fourth time trying, are given appointments in appreciation? With a party in almost total disarray at the leadership level, where exactly does the APC expect to draw its support from come 2019? Incidentally, not even the president can claim that this is a cost saving device because, apart from the ministry of information, appointees of former President Goodluck Jonathan are allegedly sitting spat at their posts and how APC expects them to shift their loyalty is beyond me.

    This situation is worse off in states where the APC is in opposition and many uninformed people, believing their local political leaders have been compensated by their party still approach these unappreciated politicians, asking for one favour or the other.

    I am at a loss as to how the APC intends to counter the rampaging PDP which is today leaving nothing to chance with its interim chairman, Senator Makarfi, personally leading an aggressive reconciliation campaign. At a personal level, as readers of this column know only too well, I have done my utmost to de-market the PDP, drawing Nigerians’ attention – since we have short memories – to how rapaciously the party ruined Nigeria in those 16 years of the locust. But what is this government’s unique selling point to a people who continue to say they have seen no change while APC itself remains uninterested in winning back, and equipping its loyalists and supporters, to mount an aggressive Risorgimento, imbued with a new determination to win back the love that propelled Buhari to victory?

    And one can only hope it is not getting too late.

  • Edo councils set aside N200m to pay pensioners  

    Local governments in Edo State have set out  N212,879,888 to payment pensioners.

    The money is from the N2, 146,235,377 it got from the federation account for August.

    Head of Owan East Local Government Administration Mr. Akeena Ade-Akhani, announced this after the Edo Joint Account and Allocation Committee (JAAC), presided over by Governor Godwin Obaseki.

    Mr. Akeena said the amount spent on mandatory expenditures was N1,440,618,407, adding that the 18 local councils are left to share N705, 616, 970.

    Akeena hailed the electronic-system for revenue collection which, he said, is successful.

    He emphasised the government is not deducting money from local government allocations.

  • Federal, states, councils share N2.8tr in six months

    Federal, states, councils share N2.8tr in six months

    The three tiers of government – federal, states and local governments – shared N2.788 trillion between January and June this year, Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) said yesterday.

    According to a statement by NEITI Director of Communications, Dr. Orji Ogbonnaya Orji, the allocation shows a 38 per cent increase on the N2.019 trillion shared in the first half of 2016.

    NEITI said the figure is contained in its Quarterly Review, which focuses on disbursement from the Federation Accounts and Allocation Committee (FAAC).

    The review was based on data obtained by the agency at the meetings of FAAC and data from National Bureau of Statistics, Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, Federal Ministry of Finance and the Debt Management Office.

    Out of $2.788 trillion disbursed in the first half of 2017, the Federal Government received N1.09 trillion, 36 state governments received N923 billion while N549.8 billion went to 774 local governments.

    A further  breakdown  shows that total releases to the three tiers of government was N430.16 billion in January, N514 billion in February, N496.40 billion (March), N418.82 billion (April), N418.82 billion (May) and N462.36 billion  (June).

    However, despite the 38 per cent increase in disbursements in the first half of 2017 when compared with 2016, the three tiers of government suffered significant revenue decline in terms of projected FAAC disbursement.

    “Coupled with the low price of oil is the country’s difficulty in meeting the targeted/budgeted production rate of 2.2 million barrels per day. Production has consistently fallen below two million barrels per day since March 2016. Thus the double “whammy” of low oil prices and lower production that hit the country since 2014 has remained” the NEITI Quarterly Review observed.

    For instance, while the expected FAAC disbursement for the three tiers of government was N4.7 trillion, the actual FAAC disbursement to them was N2.788 trillion, representing a shortfall of over 40.67 per cent.

    According to the publication, “the volatility nature of disbursements to all tiers of government in the first half of 2017 would suggest difficulty in implementing budgets at Federal, state and local government levels. The volatility in revenue inflows will adversely affect planning and expenditure of government and thus likely hamper efforts at stimulating growth and development”.

    The quarterly review added that a total of N513 billion was spent on debt servicing by the three tiers in the first quarter of 2017.

    This was against the N1.276 trillion disbursements in the first quarter. This means that debt servicing took up 40.27 per cent of FAAC disbursement for the first quarter of this year.

    “The figure reveals that debt servicing as proportion of total FAAC allocations is generally higher in the first quarter of the year, after which it falls to lower levels. Based on this, the figure of 40.27 per cent observed in the first quarter of 2017 might be an upper threshold and it would thus be expected that this figure will be lower for the remaining quarters of the year”, the report said. However, the Debt Management Office (DMO) is yet to provide data on the figure for the second quarter of 2017.

    In this direction, the NEITI publication expressed concern that the nation’s debt in relation to revenues appears to have reached critical levels. It further noted that domestic debt servicing constituted 90 per cent of total debt servicing.

    The report remarked that “domestic debt servicing consistently outstrips external debt servicing. In the first quarter of 2015, domestic debt servicing made up over 93 per cent of total debt servicing. This figure did not change much by the first quarter of 2017 as domestic debt servicing was over 92 per centof total debt servicing”.

    On the Paris Club debt refund to the 36 states and Federal Capital Territory (FCT), the NEITI Quarterly Review confirmed that N760.18 billion was released by the Federal Government to the 36 states and the FCT.

    The money, which was paid in two tranches represents refunds of over deductions from FAAC allocations to states and local governments used for quick payment of debt relief granted to Nigeria by the Paris Club between 1995 and 2002.

    The NEITI publication disclosed that Rivers received the highest amount of N44.93 billion followed by Delta with N37.61billion and Akwa Ibom N35.98 billion.  Bayelsa got N34.9 billion and Kano State received N31.74 billion. The Federal Capital Territory, Abuja received the lowest amount of N2.05 billion.

  • Councils ‘to partner on development’

    A group, Osun State Community and Social Development Projects (CSDP), has called for collaboration among local governments to foster social and physical growth in rural communities.

    CSDP’s Chairman Abdul-Rahaman Musa urged executive secretaries of local governments to synergise with the agency.

    He noted that collaboration between Osun CSDP and local government chairmen bosses would fast-track development at the grassroots.

    Musa spoke in Osogbo, the state capital, at a strategic workshop for executive secretaries of local governments, local council development authorities (LCDAs) and area councils on CSDP operational processes and procedures.

  • ‘Councils’, state legislatures’ autonomy top constitution amendment list’

    Deputy Senate President Senator Ike Ekweremadu said yesterday that financial autonomy for the state legislatures  and local governments are part of the key issues being considered in the constitution amendment exercise.

    He described financial autonomy as “the single most important constitutional empowerment required by state Houses of Assembly for effective leadership in the interest of democracy and development”.

    A statement by his media aide, Uche Anichukwu said Ekweremadu spoke at the consultative forum for building consensus among stakeholders on local government autonomy organised by the Partnership to Engage and Learn (PERL) in Abuja yesterday.

    It came on a day the Vice Chairman of the Conference of Speakers of State Legislatures of Nigeria and Speaker of the Enugu State House of Assembly, Uchenna Ubosi, said that the Conference of Speakers had resolved to support the autonomy for local governments and state assemblies.

    It said Ekweremadu, who spoke on the topic: “Providing effective leadership for the state Houses of Assembly: Leveraging the ongoing constitution review exercise,” emphasised that the autonomy of the local governments was tied to the independent of the state assemblies and understanding of the governors.

    Anichukwu quoted Ekweremadu to have said: “Section 7 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) empowers the states, through their Houses of Assembly, to make laws establishing Local Government Councils, their structure, composition, finance, and functions. Therefore, the independence and efficiency of the leadership of state assemblies are key to the just and efficient exercise of these functions”.

    It said the Deputy Senate President, however, regretted that undue executive and political party interferences in some states bring debilitating influences to bear on the leadership recruitment process of the legislature.

    “The issue of presiding officers must be settled by the parliamentarians themselves in accordance with Section 92 (1) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), which provides that ‘There shall be a Speaker and a Deputy Speaker of a House of Assembly who shall be elected by members of the House from among themselves’,” Ekweremadu said.

    He said imposition of leadership on any State Assembly would render it “ineffectual, pliable, and sometimes, a lame duck that is ever willing to do the master’s biddings”.

    He cited the example of the 2010 Constitution amendment exercise when the state Houses of Assembly “refused to approve financial autonomy for themselves even when they voted in support of financial independence for the National Assembly.

    Ekweremadu, who chairs the Senate Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution, said: “The result is that while the National Assembly is no longer at the mercy of the Executive arm for its funding, the state assemblies could be easily arm-twisted by starving them of funds, if they refuse to do the biddings of the Executive”.

    On local government autonomy, he stated: “We are making efforts in the ongoing Constitution review exercise to strengthen governance at the grassroots by amending Section 7 of the Constitution to properly situate the local governments as a third tier of the government of the Federation.

    “We are working to make elaborate provisions for their funding, tenure, election, and to clearly delineate their powers and responsibilities. For instance, we seek to abolish the Joint State-Local Government Account in line with popular demand by Nigerians”.

    Ubosi assured the National Assembly that the conference had resolved to support the local councils’ autonomy and financial independence of state assemblies to make them more effective.

     

  • ‘Lagos needs more councils’

    ‘Lagos needs more councils’

    In this piece, Second Republic Secretary to Lagos State Government Asiwaju Olorunfunmi Basorun urges state governments to reposition the local government system for better service delivery at the grassroots.

    Lagos State was initially made up of the Colony Province (Ikeja Division, Badagry Division and Epe Division) and Lagos Division.  In May, 1968, Ikorodu Division was carved out of the Ikeja Division; while in 1971 Imota portion of Ikosi District Council in Epe Division was added to Ikorodu Division; and Etiosa Local Council, formerly part of Ikorodu Division, was ceded to Lagos City Council to become part of Lagos Division.  It is in the context just described that I intend to discuss the Local Government System in Lagos State yesterday, today and tomorrow.

    Before 1955

    Between 1932 and 1955, like in other parts of Nigeria, the Colony Province which was part of Western Nigeria operated what was then known as Native Authority (NA).The Lagos Division, as represented by Lagos City Council, was being governed by a separate enactment, the Lagos Local Government Act, 1959.  Its predecessor, the Lagos Town Council was also created under a new Lagos Local Government Law.  It produced the first and last Mayor of Lagos, Ibiyinka Olorunnimbe, in 1950.

    1955 to 1971

    When a new local government system was introduced in Western Nigeria by Chief Obafemi Awolowo in 1955, it extended to the Colony Province which was an integral part of the Region.  The intention of the Local Government Law was that a Divisional Council should be superior to a Local Council.  The Divisional Council was the rating authority for Local Councils in its area of jurisdiction while the District Council, really not under any Divisional Council, only less in status, was also a rating authority.  When it became necessary to appoint Caretaker Committees for Councils in Lagos State in 1969, Lagos City Council, the Divisional, the District and Local Council were those used.

    1971 to 1975

    A further development in Lagos State saw the scrapping of the three-tiered structure and gave way to an All Purpose District Councils structure for all the council areas as a result of Joel Ogunnaike Report of 1971 on The Tribunal of Inquiry into Re-organisation of Local government which the Government accepted.  Except for retention of name, Lagos City Council was affected.The Reform threw up the following council areas:

    Lagos Division: Lagos City Council; Badagry Division: Awori/Ajeromi District Council,            Egun/Awori District Council; Epe Division:               Epe District Council;  Ikeja Division:             Ikeja District Council, Mushin Town Council; Ikorodu Division:                Ikorodu District Council

    1976 to 1979

    In 1976, when the Military Administration, in its wisdom, decided to install a single local government system for Nigeria on the basis of Dasuki’s (deposed Sultan of Sokoto) Report, it approved eight “Local Government Councils” (the designation it chose) for Lagos State.

    Lagos Division: Lagos Island Local Government Council, Lagos Mainland Local Government Council; Badagry Division:  Badagry Local Government Council; Epe Division:         Epe Local Government council; Ikeja Division: Ikeja Local Government Council, Mushin East Local Government Council, Mushin West Local Government Council; Ikorodu Division: Ikorodu Local Government Council.

    1980 to 1983

    The 1979 Constitution vested the creation and administration of Local Government Councils in the State Government.  Lagos State through a law enacted by the state Assembly created 23 local government areas in 1980.  When the Military struck again and took over the country’s administration on December 31, 1983, part of its early actions in 1984 was to scrap the 23 council areas and reverted to the 8 local government councils structure created in 1976 by another military administration.

    1984 to 2002

    Through military fiat, the number of Local Government Councils in Lagos State increased to 12 and 15.  In 1996, by another military fiat, the Abacha administration awarded an across-the-board 30 per cent increase on the existing number of local government councils in each state of the Federation. It brought the number in Lagos State from 15 to 20 (Kano from 34 to 44) which was the position as at 2002.  The council areas are:

    Lagos Division: Apapa, Etiosa, Lagos Island, Lagos Mainland, Surulere; Badagry Division: Ajeromi/Ifelodun, Amuwo-Odofin, Badagry, Ojo; Epe Division: Epe, Ibeju Lekki; Ikeja Division: Agege, Alimoso, Ifako/Ijaiye,             Ikeja, Kosofe, Mushin, Somolu, Oshodi/Isolo; korodu Division: Ikorodu

    2002 to date:

    The civilian administration of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu took the giant and courageous step to increase the number to 57 in 2002 with a law duly passed by the Lagos State House of Assembly.  However, the last step to complete the exercise could not be accomplished because the National Assembly which was to make consequential provisions to admit the newly created Councils as in accordance with Section 3(6) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) and as in Part I of the First Schedule to the Constitution failed to do so.  It resulted in a celebrated court case between the Lagos State Government and the Federal Government whereby the Supreme Court ruled that the Act of the State Assembly in creating the 37 additional councils was constitutional, but the process was inchoate.

    But the 57 councils stayed till today.  The recognised 20 local government councils took the additional 37 councils as the development areas and were christened “37 Local Council Development Areas”.

    The 57 councils have functioned for fourteen years with giant strides in developing their areas.  We now have 57 Council Secretariats with multiplier effect in physical structures, such as health centres, council buildings and extensive growth in human capital (employment generation). The gains of the council creation are too many to recount; we can only continue to appreciate the initiators and their ingenuity in creating the councils and making the system to function successfully.

    At least, three states in the Southwest, Ogun, Oyo and Osun, have adopted the Lagos Model.  I believe it will work out well.

    The future:

    • Lagos will need more councils in the future, at least 10 more in 2022.
    • The inhibition to let the councils function as full-fledged local government should be removed –

    (1) By deleting:  (a) Section 3(6) of the 1999 Constitution as amended and  (b) Section 8(5) and 8(6)

    (2) By using survey annotations to describe state boundaries in Part I of the    First Schedule to the 1999 Constitution instead of council areas.

    • The executive capacity of the councils’ staff needs to be shored up through recruitment and training of high quality personnel to improve on the services of the councils.
    • The state government should ensure strict compliance to the provision of section 162(7) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) which states:

    “Each State shall pay to local government councils in its area of jurisdiction such proportion of its total revenue on such terms and in such a manner as may be prescribed by the National Assembly.”

  • Emmanuel dissolves councils’ transition commitees

    Emmanuel dissolves councils’ transition commitees

    Akwa Ibom State Governor Udom Emmanuel has approved the dissolution of Ukanafun and Itu Local Government Transition Committees.

    The dissolution was contained in a statement by the Secretary to the State Government, Sir Etekamba Umoren.

    The governor directed Heads of Service of the affected Local Government areas to take over the affairs of the Council, pending further directives.

    Ukanafun has been enmeshed in killings and kidnappings while Itu has been ravaged by infighting among Council members.

  • Obaseki to boost revenue for councils

    Obaseki to boost revenue for councils

    Edo State Governor Godwin Obaseki has pledged his administration’s commitment to work with local government administrators to boost their Internally Generated Revenue (IGR).

    The governor spoke in Benin, the state capital, at a two-day retreat, tagged: Reforming Local Government Administration in Edo, organised for local government administrators.

    The state, he said, organised the retreat to discuss the challenges confronting local governments with a view to proffering solutions to them.

    Obaseki said the drop in crude oil prices made it impossible for Federal allocation to sustain local governments.

    The governor said his administration decided to put measures in place to boost councils’ IGR.

    He said: “Let us be frank with ourselves. We need to strategise on how we can boost revenue and reduce costs. Those are the solutions I can see. We have introduced the use of technology to collect revenue for local government areas in the state. In the pilot phase of the scheme, we were able to raise IGR from N42,000 to N500,000 at nine different collection points in Oredo Local Government Area every day.”

    Obaseki said Edo State would make 15 of its 18 local government areas viable before September through the new method of IGR collection.

    The governor urged the administrators to support the process, emphasising the need for the councils to improve their intelligence gathering system to curtail security challenges in state.