Local Government Election have been slated for April 2024 in Oyo state.
Thank God it is not going to be business as usual.
The main opposition political party, the APC will be participating in the election.
Local Governments in Oyo state have been grounded since Governor Makinde assumed office about five years ago.
The Governor, in line with his belief that Local Governments in Nigeria are an aberration have continued to treat the third tier of Government as an appendage of the Governor’s office.
This is contrary to the provisions of section 7 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended.
Under Governor Makinde, the 33 Local Governments offices have become a ghost of what obtains during the tenures if his predecessors.
I have listened to Governor Makinde trying to justify his illegal occupation of the Local Governments several times.
He had adduced many reasons for his illegal actions, some, laughable, some, untenable and some, outright falsehood or at best, half-truths.
It is both laughable and falsehood for the Governor to posit that part of his reasons for meddling in the Administration of the Local Governments is to ensure that the Local Governments pay salaries promptly!
The Governor even mentioned some humongous amounts of money like 5b Naira as salary of Local Government staffs in one of his Media chats.
The last time I checked, each Local Government is responsible for the payments of Its staffs.
The practice is simple. Immediately the Allocation drops, the Directors of Finance and the Directors of Administration, which have been changed to Heads of Local Government Administration, HLAs, will prepare a schedule of payment for salaries for the chairman to sign.
The two officials are the ones who will sign and counter sign the cheque for salaries after the cheque has been raised by the Director of Finance.
How does Governor Makinde arrived at the 5b Naira lump sum which he referred to as payment for salaries of Local Government staffs when salaries are sorted out at respective Local Governments levels?
Governor Makinde is one individual who makes a lot of untenable statements just because he knows that no one will ask him to prove them.
I was a Supervisor for Works in my Local Government.
I know how salaries are paid and the Governor have no business with the process.
I also know that the Governor is not empowered to remove salaries lump sum from the Local Governments purse.
If Governor Makinde claimed to have been doing this, then it is not only illegal, it is unprecedented.
During the period when I served at the Local Government, it was the prerogative of the Local Government Excos led by the chairman to identify projects and approve them, with Bill of quantities attached.
The Governor only gave final approval if the amounts exceeded the approving limits of the Local Government Excos.
What do we have now?
It is the Governor who dictates what to be done for the Local Governments and even, provides the contractor for the Local Government Chairmen.
Akesan Market on my mind.
As we speak, all the Graders and other equipments like vehicles purchased for environmental purposes for the Local Governments by Governor Makinde’s predecessors have been taken over by the state Government.
Revenues from the Motor parks no longer go directly to the Local Governments as Internally Generated Revenues, IGR, all have been centralized under the Park Management System allegedly supervised by a none state actor and close ally of the Governor.
Almost all of the Local Government Roads have become unpassable because the Local Governments can’t even embark on mere grading of Roads due to paulcity or non release of funds by the Governor.
The Local Government Election slated for April this year is an opportunity for the people of the state to liberate the Local Governments from the schackes of the Governor.
The Governor never hid his disdain for the existence of the Local Governments and he has made it clear severally.
Unfortunately his approval or non of it about the existence of Local Governments in our Constitution is immaterial and of no moment.
Our Constitution recognizes the existence of the Local Government as the third tier of Government and not as an appendage or annexure to the Governors office.
It is time to untie the Local Governments from the apron of Governor Makinde and the only way to do this is to vote for the opposition, APC.
The party, APC does have what it takes to protect Local Government Chairmen elected Its platform been the party at the centre.
Unless the Local Governments are liberated now, I’m afraid Governor Makinde would achieve his notion of abolishing the Local Governments through systematic decapitation.
A visit to the Local Governments offices will drive the points home.
I learned most Local Government staffs do not go to the offices on a daily basis.
Who would blame them, after all, there is nothing going on in the offices.
It is a collective responsibility of the people of Oyo state to save the Local Governments from going into extinction.
May our Local Government headquarters not become another Agbowo shopping complex.
SOLA ABEGUNDE.
