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Tag: ‘Councils

  • APC, Uduaghan differ on conduct of Delta councils’ polls

    APC, Uduaghan differ on conduct of Delta councils’ polls

    Mixed reactions have continued to trail last Saturday’s local council elections in Delta State, with the All Progressives Congress (APC) chapter calling for their cancellation.

    Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan, after casting his vote at Unit I, Ward 6, at Abigborodo Primary School Polling Station in Warri North Local Government, described the election as one of the best ever held.

    But the APC, calling for the cancelation of the elections in a statement yesterday by its publicity secretary, Isaac Adaka Adakpo, alleged that they were characterised by violence and irregularities.

    The party said the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in connivance with security agents, the state’s electoral body and thugs, made a travesty of the entire electoral process.

    It alleged that cases of physical attacks and destruction of property were recorded, citing events in Warri North, Isoko South and North council areas.

    The statement reads: “The Delta State local council elections were held yesterday, October 25, 2015. The elections across the state, local governments and wards were marred by violence, PDP-Police collusion and corruption of Delta State Independent Electoral Commission (DSIEC) officials. Army troops were used to intimidate the people.

    “The run of the elections was against the promises on honour and personal integrity of the DSIEC Chairman, Moses Ogbe, who was at one time Resident Electoral Commissioner in Lagos State.

    “The PDP, fearing defeat, went on rampage with thugs, burning, maiming and killing. Over 36 cars were destroyed in Koko by the PDP’s army of violence. Many other properties were destroyed. In Isoko South and North, the violence unleashed saw many people hospitalised. The trail of sorrow, tears and bloodshed left behind by the PDP in the local government elections cannot be said to be in compliance with the law or in accord with the assurances given by the DSIEC Chairman that elections of one-man-one-vote shall be held.

    “APC therefore calls for the cancellation of the entire exercise at once,” the statement said.

    But reacting to the election, Uduaghan expressed delight in the conduct of the polls, describing the process as one of the best ever conducted.

    The governor said reports he received indicated that the exercise was largely peaceful in all parts of the state.

    He said there were some hitches, delays and security situation, which were promptly dealt with to enable the people exercise their franchise.

    The governor hailed the people for keeping faith with the exercise and expressed happiness that all went well.

    Uduaghan said certain elements wanted to disrupt the exercise in Warri North, but security was called in to handle the situation.

     

  • ‘How Lagos councils work’

    ‘How Lagos councils work’

    Mr. Mubashiru Hassan is the Permanent Secretary/Auditor-General for Local Governments in Lagos State. Hassan spoke on the administration and finance of the third tier. Assistant Editor DADA ALADELOKUN met him.

    What is your assessment of  the performance of local  governments   in Lagos?

     In my view, Local governments in Lagos State are working, if we base their performance on their allocations from the federation account. What the public reads on the pages of newspapers is just the gross allocation from the federation account. By the time it gets to the local government, there would have been so many deductions. For instance, in 2013, the local councils in the state spent over N41 billion on workers’ salaries including teachers and local government staff. After that, we still deducted training fund for local government, which is resident with Local Government’s Service Commission. We deducted pensions for teachers, staff of local governments and employers’ contribution to pension; old scheme and new scheme. Now, what remains after these mandatory deductions is very small. If you compare what they are doing with what they receive from federation account, you will acknowledge that sincerely local governments are trying within the resources at their disposal.

    But one would expect the state government to assist the councils …

    Both the state and Local Governments collaborate because when it comes to social responsibility it will be difficult for local governments to do  it alone. What the state government does is to encourage them to contribute into a pool meant to provide essential services to the public. If there is any shortfall, the state government would come in to assist. In terms of road construction and rehabilitation, the state government does that on behalf of the councils. If we don’t pool resources together it will be difficult for a tier of government to impact on the lives of the citizens.

    Is it true that council chairmen are corrupt?

    There is no office holder in Nigeria today that is not accused of corruption. Even if you were a billionaire before assuming office, the moment you get there, you are seen as corrupt. So, it depends on the definition of corruption. The moment you get into public office, everybody believes it’s your turn to have a share of the national cake. Whether you dip your hands into public treasury or not, everybody assumes that you are corrupt. By virtue of certain offices, the holders are entitled to certain perks such as  official accommodation, vehicle and running cost on behalf of the government. Also, government has a policy that  a public officer can go with whatever they are enjoying at subsided rates to minimize corruption. That is to sustain you as if you are still in office.

    What is your view on the controversial State-Local Governments Joint Account?

    The constitution is clear on this issue. When the allocations come from the Federation Account, it goes into that account. From there, it is distributed to all local governments. You called it controversial because as an outsider, you don’t know the workings of the account. When the gross comes into the account, the statutory deductions are made. If you don’t pay the teachers, local government workers and provide amenities, there will be crisis everywhere. What gets to the local governments at the end of the day is so meagre, that if the council chairman delays payment of salaries, and it accumulates over time; then he is inviting trouble. That is what I understand to be function of the joint account. The deductions are statutory. Some state governments tamper with that account. I know that in Lagos there is sanity in the operation of that account. All deductions are statutory and the table is everywhere for everybody to see. It is in public domain; everybody can assess what the state government is deducting or not deducting. And there is a rule. No deduction shall be effected from the allocation of local governments unless on the resolution of council chairmen. If the chairmen say no, deduction fails.

    How does your office check corruption in the system?

    We go out quarterly for inspection; on a quarterly basis we issue our reports. Every quarter, we send our reports to the House of Assembly and the Public Accounts Committee of the House examines them and  pass resolutions on them.

    Auditing the accounts of 20 councils and 37 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) must have been challenging …

    There is no job without challenges. We sat down and designed a strategy that on quarterly basis, we would be going round and issue our reports. In terms of mobility, the state government has been very supportive. We were giving four buses. We go as far as Epe, Badagry. We saw gaps in the way assignments were being carried out on the field. Subsequently, we organised training for staff. We also encourage them to go for professional examinations. Some do professional examinations. For those already qualified, what they need is capacity building in the areas they need0 to be trained and they attend training locally and internationally.

    Don’t you think the councils are lazy, in terms of revenue generation?

    I don’t believe they are lazy because if they are, they will not be able to execute programmes in their local government areas. It is the revenue generated internally that they use in supporting what comes to them from the JAC account. If you look at their records, you will see that councils in Lagos are trying. I can confirm that.

     

     

  • North kicks against governors’ power to create councils

    North kicks against governors’ power to create councils

    Northern delegates at the National  Conference yesterday declared their opposition to moves to remove  local governments  from the constitution and empower  state governors to create councils.

    Spokesman  for  the Northern Delegates’ Forum,Mr. Anthony Sani, said in a statement in Kaduna  that the proposals are dangerous for the polity in view of what  the governors  currently do with councils and state electoral commissions.

    According to him, for local governments to deliver on the promise of their existence, they should remain in the constitution as the only way to ensure the whole nation can have a say in their creation.

    He said : “The 36 states of the federation could as well be called 36 zones of Nigeria. It is just  a matter of name. The advantage of smaller units as the federating units like states is that apart from addressing the concerns of the minorities, the states cannot be strong enough to be a threat to the centre, thereby making for a  stronger Nigeria. So let states be  the federating units.

    “Nobody is preventing South East from asking for additional states. But there must be criteria for creation of states. Mere clamour on the basis of equality is not justice because equality should come with equity.

    “We must remember that the former Eastern Region currently has nine states, while  the former Western Region has eight states. If it were on basis of equality, the West would have hankered that the zone should have nine states also.

    “The North that has three zones and with big land mass and huge population over the South which  has only 19 states. But we know land and population are serious factors in creation of states for obvious reasons that states exist for human beings and there is problem of development, and so should be considered in any exercise for creation of states, however defined. “

    The  recommendation by the conference for the creation of 18 new states in the country had sparked tension at Thursday’s session after  a northern  delegate qualified the Southeast geo-political zone with “so-called”.

    Alhaji  Magaji  Dambatta, elder statesman on the platform of the North West geo-political zone, was  contributing to the  debate on state creation as contained in the report on Political Restructuring and Forms of Government.

    A delegate from South East, Goddy Nwazurike, and Dr. Haruna Yerima from Borno responded immediately that Danbatta should apologize immediately.

    Danbatta was not moved.

    The leader of the South East delegation, Gen Ike Nwachukwu, raised a point of order asking that to refer to a group of people and a component of the country in such derogatory manner was unacceptable.

    He askedthe confab leadership to tell  Dambatta  to apologise to the South East.

    On being recognized, Dambata refused to apologize and said: “The way I referred to South East is the way I will refer to North West. In the context of my argument, I was talking about the creation of state and that nowhere in our constitution is that geo-political zone  mentioned.

    “Also, there is nowhere in the recommendations of the committee where zones are referred to a tier of government. They are not recognized by the constitution, therefore, they are not constitutionally valid. That was my point.

    “Secondly, when I was making my argument, it was not against the creation of additional states in the South East. I was referring to selectivity of the committee. In one breath, they said one state should be created by a fiat. And in another, they said others should be on merit.

    “All I am saying is that all states to be created should  be on merit, including the one being recommended.

    “To Dr Haruna who regretted that I made that statement and that Sir Ahmadu Bello would not have supported such remarks, I want to state that I am a nationalist. I have been  in the vanguard of nationalism since 1951. I am sure there is no one in this hall, except, perhaps, Richard Akinjide that was a nationalist then, not even Edwin Clark.

    “I was in the field for the fight for our independence. I am not a parochial person. I am a nationalist.I respect every person in Nigeria. I stand by word that in  all the provisions in the constitution, there is  no reference to the zones as a tier of government .That was my point”.

    After his submission, the  Chairman, Justice Idris Kutigi, asked the next speaker to continue with the contributions to the debate.

    The chairman’s action was met with shouts of no  each time the speaker attempted to make his submission.

    On realizing that the situation might raise undue tension in the hall, Danbatta took the microphone again and asked to be forgiven.

    “Because of my disposition and my standing in this country and the service I rendered for the development of this country, I did not mean any offence with my remarks,”he said.

  • Agency accuses area councils of negligence

    Agency accuses area councils of negligence

    The Director-General of National Environmental Standard and Regulations Agency (NESREA) Ngeri Benebo, has accused the area councils in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) of lacking the political will to impose environmental laws.

    She also accused them of under-utilisation of the mobile courts, which, she said resulted in the upsurge of slums, shanty towns and temporary settlements.

    She added that the officials and chairmen are scared of offending the people who elected them and thereby refuse to enforce policies that will ensure that the environment is clean.

    Benebo made the accusation during a courtesy visit to Minister of State for the Federal Capital Territory, Olajumoke Akinjide, where she pleaded with the administration to constantly monitor the people involved in environmental sanitation in the territory to get value for the money they are paid.

    She said: “The current environmental situation in all the area councils in the FCT is unfortunately very appalling and shameful.

    “The chairmen of area councils are not co-operating with NESREA in ensuring the enforcement of environmental laws in the satellite towns.”

    She said that NESREA, in an attempt to improve the environmental situation in line with the National Environmental Regulation 2009, has continued to hold intensive training and capacity building for environmental workers.

    Responding, the minister said that the growth of the FCT is massive and is mostly in the satellite towns and area councils, which can both be a problem and opportunity which the administration does not leave solely to the area councils to manage on their own.

    The assistant director of Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB) Aishatu Adebayo also explained that 28 different contractors on waste management collection are involved in the FCT’s waste collection in the cities, satellite towns and area councils.

    She complained that funding is the greatest challenge involved in achieving a successful waste management in the cities and worst in the area councils and satellite towns.

  • Council’s parting gifts

    To mark the completion of its tenure, the Dr Wale Babalakin-led Governing Council of the University of Maiduguri (UNIMAID) handed over some facilities to the institution.

    From the two university gates to the faculties, the council left its mark.

    As the building for the School of Pharmacy was inaugurated, the students sang with joy, having waited for many years for the faculty. There is also a 1,000-capacity auditorium built for conferences.

    New buildings for the Dentistry Department and the Faculty of Medical Sciences, which include Anatomy, Physiotherapy, Nursing, among others, were also inaugurated. The Faculty of Education was not left out. Its building was completed with twin 500-seater lecture theatres.

    The council also completed the UNIMAID Radio House and built a 33/11KV power station for the school. The roads from gates 1 and 2 were dualised and beautified with solar lamps.

    During the inauguration, the Vice-Chancellor, Prof Muhammed Daura, said the projects were a milestone achievement in the university’s annals, adding that the institution had never witnessed such an “explosion of projects”.

    He said the management was proud of the Dr Babalakin-led council for the achievement, noting that his tenure was four years of prudent management and unprecedented development in the institution.

    Praising the outgoing council members, Prof Daura said: “We thank you very much for the commitment you have shown to this university. This is the first time the university will be having this kind of projects including a lecture theatre that can accommodate 500 students. That makes us a proud member of the global university community.”

    On the money committed to the projects, Dr Babalakin said there was no abandoned project, despite the security challenge in the state, noting that embarking on such projects was a difficult task. The optimism and faith of the council members, he said, made the achievement a reality.

    Idris Abubakar, a Business Education student, praised the council for completing the Faculty of Education building. He said: “I am happy we will no longer use other faculties’ halls and classrooms for our lectures. That all our lectures will now be within the faculty is commendable.”

    He, however, noted students would be faced with the challenge of walking a long distance from their hostels to the new classrooms for lectures.

    The UNIMAID Garden Hotel in Abuja was also inaugurated.

    Dr Babalakin said the projects would boost the revenue base of the institution, adding that proceeds from them would be used to sponsor First Class graduates to further their education. He added that the projects would reduced the university’s dependence on the Federal Government.

    A graduating student praised the council and management, saying he was happy to witness changes in the school.

  • Two Ogun councils budget over N2b

    Two Ogun councils budget over N2b

    chairman, Ifo Local Government Area, Ogun State, Chief Oluwole Enilolobo, has proposed a budget of N1,036,800,000 for this year.

    In a public presentation of the proposal christened “Budget of Restoration and Service Delivery” at the the council’s multi-purpose  hall, Enilolobo said the planned Appropriation Bill would be channelled to programmes that will impact positively on the people’s living standard.

    The council boss lauded residents for their support, urging them to continue to pay their levies and taxes accruable to the government.

    According to him, revenue from taxes and levies is one of the sources of funds with which projects that bring dividends of democracy could be executed.

    Also, the Chairman of Odogbolu Local Government Area of the state, Mr Olawale Shittu presented a  budget proposal of N1, 714,563,854 for the 2013 fiscal year to the Council’s legislators for approval.

    He said the budget would be financed from the Internally Generated Revenue.

    Presenting the proposal before the 15-member councillors at the legislators’ chamber, Shittu said the budget is designed to ensure that the dividends of democracy are extended to every part of the local government.

    He said this year’s Appropriation Bill christened ‘Budget of Rebuilding Odogbolu Local Government,’ was borne out of the need to face the realities of the economic situation in the country and the whole world and to ensure prudent management of scarce resources to accelerate developmental plans and programmes beneficial to the people.

    He said emphasis would be placed on agriculture which is projected to take up to N18,000,000 of the budget. Livestock, he said, will take N12,500,000, education N41,500,000, health N41,500,000 and water resources and supply N20,800,000, among others.

    In his remarks, the Leader of Local Government legislators, Honourable Wasiu Adeniji, assured the chairman of speedy consideration of the budget proposal.

     

  • ACN decries mass sack in Ondo councils

    ACN decries mass sack in Ondo councils

    The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in Ondo State yesterday decried the sack of over 6,000 local government workers.

    In a statement by its Publicity Secretary, Mr. Rotimi Agbede, ACN said: “This latest act is in furtherance of the onslaught on the workforce by the Governor Olusegun Mimiko administration, which started after the October 20, last year, governorship election.

    “It is unfortunate that the Labour Party (LP) administration, which owes much of its purported victory at the poll to workers, could unleash a reign of terror on them barely three months after the election.

    “The LP administration has once again manifested its insensitivity to the plight of the people. It is ironic that a government that refused to employ people is sacking workers without considering the effect on their families.”

    The party’s state executive is on a tour of councils in the South Senatorial District.

    The tour is aimed at repositioning the party for future challenges.

  • ‘Councils should not disrupt varsities’ finances’

    The Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of Council, University of Ibadan, Chief Wole Olanipekun (OFR), has warned universities governing councils against interfering in the financial activities of universities.

    Olanipekun spoke on Monday while inaugurating some projects including the Faculty of Dentistry Office Complex and Auditorium; Large Animal Theatre, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine; Faculty of Arts’ Library and UI Water Factory.

    The Pro-Chancellor explained that the duty of a governing council is to ensure that the institutions are well maintained to support research development and growth of education.

    He said: “The way we can assist is to give the university unimpaired freedom. It is not the duty of any member of council to interfere or poke nose. The universities deserve some degrees of liberty.

    “How the universities are run should be the management’s duty. Our duty as council is to ensure that the university is well maintained. We also ensure that due process is followed on how projects are awarded to contractors”

    The SAN promised to ensure that credibility is maintained in all activities of the institution, adding that the council will not tolerate any act of corruption from the principal officers of UI.

    In his welcome address, the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Isaac Adewole, thanked the council for giving the managment free hand and enabling environment to perform.

    Adewole said: ”This project is the testimony of that. We shall support the Faculty of Dentistry beyond the donation by making it work within the next four weeks.”

    In her address, the Dean of Dentistry, Prof. Modupe Arowojolu, expressed gratitude to the Council for facilitating the project funded by the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND).

    The dentistry building project started in July 2011 with the approval for the additional works on the building given in February.

    Also during the inauguration of a water project worth over N40 million, the VC said it was established to generate revenue for the school reduce over-dependent on government funding, while providing vocational training for students.