JamzNG Latest News, Gist, Entertainment in Nigeria
The presidents of the local government in the State of Ondo accused the governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa of deviating the allocations of the Council, claiming that, despite the sentence of the Supreme Court on financial autonomy, they still receive only about 4 million months a month by billions assigned to their advice.
The 18 leaders of the elected council, which launched the alarm on Thursday, said that the state government continues to instruct the funds through the controversial common account of the state government, leaving them unable and unable to carry out significant projects.
One of the presidents, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that while the records of the Federation account allocation committee (FAAC) showed that some advice received up to ₦ 644 million, ₦ 590 million and ₦ 405 million in June, the final amount issued to them was just ₦ 4 million each.
“You can check these figures on Budgit. After deductions and directives, everything we have left is ₦ 4 million to manage our advice. Six months from the office, we have not been able to perform a single development project,” complained about the president.
The state government, however, defends its control of the Council funds, citing statutory responsibilities such as the payment of teachers’ salaries, the wages of the workers of the Council, the pension obligations, primary health care, basic education and the security outfit Amatekun.
But the presidents insist on practice undermines the basic governance and floating in the judgment of the Supreme Court of July 2024, which declared that all 774 local governments in Nigeria must receive their assignments directly from the Federation account.
The groups of civil society also spoke of the matter. The Association for Good Governance Advocacy (Game), in a declaration signed by her coordinator, Mrs. Folakemi Benson, urged President Bola Tinubu to impose the sentence and put an end to what described as the “strangulation” of local governments by state governors.
“With the exception of Lagos, no other state in Nigeria allows the advice to enjoy full financial autonomy. This is a fundamental barrier to the basic development and a violation of the renewed agenda of hope,” said Game.
Reacting to the accusations, the commissioner for the local government and the business of Capo, Amidu Takuro, rejected the statements as “false and politically motivated”.
According to him, there is no secret in the system and all funds can be verified in the council accounts.
He argued that the deductions were made only for legal obligations, including the ₦ ₦ 3.8 billion tip solution from 2010 to 2013.
“It’s not true. Maybe they can go out openly to speak, because there is no secrecy in this system.
“Money is in their accounts and anyone can check. Everything we are implementing is through their budget arrangement,” said Takuro.
‘Do you want to share a story with us? Do you want to advertise with us? Do you need advertising for a product, service or event? Contact us on WhatsApp +2348183319097 email: platformtimes@gmail.com
We commit ourselves to an investigative journalism of great impact for human interest and social justice. Your donation will help us tell other stories. Please give any amount HERE
