LOCAL GOVERNMENT AUTONOMY:We’ve Been Practicing It In Bayelsa Before Supreme Court Ruling, Says Sen. Ewhrudjakpo
By Ogholi Oghogho Erica
Bayelsa State Deputy Governor, Senator Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, has said the present administration in the state had been implementing local government autonomy long before the Supreme Court of Nigeria gave its ruling on July
11 this year.
Senator Ewhrudjakpo made this known at a meeting with directors of works from the eight local government councils at his office in Government House, Yenagoa, on Thursday.
The Deputy Governor, who noted that the general impression in the country was that state governments were preying on and mismanaging local government funds, pointed out that the situation in Bayelsa was quite different.
He said although the present administration met a nearly failed local government system in February 2020, it was able to revive and reposition the local governments for effective administration and service delivery to the people.
His words: “Our intention is, and we insist that local governments must function as local governments in Bayelsa State. Nobody is contesting or diluting the autonomy of local governments. Local government autonomy is in full practice here in Bayelsa.
“The general impression out there, is that local government funds are being mismanaged by state governments. That is not the situation here in Bayelsa.
“We met a local government system that had almost failed completely, which couldn’t even pay its workers without borrowing every month. But we have been able to inject life into it and pulled it out of the life-support and the vegetative state it was
“Today, our local governments in Bayelsa State are capable of living up to their responsibility of being local governments. And if the local governments were not executing projects, then you the Directors of Works wouldn’t be here.
“We believe the tier of government closest to the people is the local government and it knows the problems of the people to take care of the rudimentary and primary issues of development like rural roads, markets, public toilets, motor parks, primary education and healthcare.
“Since we have RDAs under each LGA, the respective local governments are funding the RDAs in their jurisdictions, which is allowed by the Nigerian Constitution, and the Supreme Court judgement on Attorney-General of Lagos State versus Attorney-General of the Federation and 36 others.
“The Supreme Court had stated clearly that having allocated the resources to a particular local government, the State Government has a right to use that local government resources to manage other local governments the state had created.”
Addressing some of the issues tabled by the directors at the meeting, Senator Ewhrudjakpo clarified that the local government Directors of Works were at par with other principal officers in the unified local government service.
While tasking them to always prepare realistic and competent bills of quantity for capital projects in the councils, he granted their plea to be included among principal officers to benefit from car loans.
In his presentation, the Chairman of the Forum of Local Government Directors of Works, Mr. Foudiribo Peter Ogori, said they possessed the requisite competence for projects conception, design and management.
He, however, pointed out that their operations were been hindered as they lack official vehicles to move to the various project sites in their respective local governments.
Mr. Ogori, therefore, pleaded that local government works directors should be given the privileges being enjoyed by other principal officers at the local government level.
The meeting was also attended by the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Chief Thompson Amule; the Acting Chairman of the Local Government Service Commission, Barrister Awipi Odudu, and the Chairman of Kolokuma/Opokuma Local Government Area, Hon. Tariye Leilei, who doubles as ALGON Chairman in Bayelsa state.
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