It is more than 100 days since 17 local government council chairmen were elected under controversial circumstances and sworn into office in Edo State. In this analysis, Victor Osehobo examines how some of the councils are coping.
On 22 June 2013, the Edo State governor, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole swore in some elected council executive chairmen who are all Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, members. He told the council chairmen to appropriate the resources accruing to the councils for the overall development of their respective local governments.
He also urged them to reside in their various domains and strictly adhere to the public procurement acts in the award of contracts in a manner that must be transparent and ensuring accountability in governance; and told them that the key to success in local government administration is the blockage of revenue leakages which is one of the major problems affecting the internally generated revenue coming into all councils in the country.
This week, it is about 100 days since the council chairmen took office and many have been up and doing in their various localities. In Oredo Local Government Council, the chairman, Hon. Osaro Obazee reiterated his readiness to renovate all existing primary health care centres in the locality in order to bring health care delivery to the door steps of the people.
Obazee was speaking during a free health week by his council where he said free health services are in line with his electioneering promises of bringing dividends of democracy to the entire people of the locality. He used the occasion to advice market women to come out en masse to examine the state of their health, saying health is wealth, adding that the local government contributed tremendously to the development of the society before he was elected chairman, hence the choice of Oredo Local Government Council to host the programme.
He also reiterated the determination of his administration to transform the municipal council area as he presented the 2013 council budget. The total sum of the estimated budget is N3, 963,430,000 only. However, the breakdown of the budget estimate is to be as follows: recurrent expenditure which covers personnel, overhead and Consolidated Revenue Fund charges was pegged at N1, 588,510,000 while capital expenditure was estimated to be N2, 374,920,000.
In Ovia North East Local Government Council, Barrister (Mrs.) Lucy Omagbon disclosed to Nigerian Pilot last week at Okada that she is proud that the ideas of the economic team led by a former banker, Hon. Charity Amayaevbo she set on assumption of office was very helpful in her administration of the LGA.
She said that this idea is beginning to turn around the economic fortunes of the local government, an economy left in a very devastating state by the past administrators of the council. The team’s reference among other things she said was to help improve the income generation of the council, sourcing for revenue and help play advisory role on expenditure pattern and infrastructural development in the local government area.
Mrs. Omagbon said her administration had so far also gone ahead with the recovery of the local government properties illegally acquired by some individuals, repair of the council’s multi million naira grader which was abandoned for over nine years and building of a trailer park. She said just now modalities for the setting up of a mass transit line are in full gear. Other achievement she mentioned included setting up of an adult education centres at Okada and Oluku, the acquisition of over 5,000 hectares of land for the cultivation of cocoa and cassava and full payment of the N25 million debts inherited from the council’s past chairman.
“I want to say proudly that much has been achieved in this first 100 days, even though I believe that when one begins a new job, the first 100 days in office are a time of transition, a time to define one’s personality and work style, a time to study your working environmentn and the people you are working with and I believe in this regard, I have done quite well. To say the least; the first 100 days have been intense”.
She said on assumption of office precisely on the April 22, 2013, she noticed among other things workers’ low motivation and the dwindling revenue both from the federation account and the Internally Generated Revenue, IGR.
She said while other councils had monies to begin work in their various local government areas, Ovia North East was one of the local governments that have nothing to start with, adding that “in fact the council was in debt to a tune of N25million”. She had earlier presented her budget for fiscal 2013 to the council legislature.
The Esan West Local Government council chairman, Mr. Henry Irumundomon died in office as he approached the 100 days mark. The late Mr. Irumundomon, after being sworn-in, was said to have passed away at an undisclosed hospital in Lagos where he had been undergoing treatment for undisclosed ailment.
The late Mr. Irumundomon had proposed 2013 budget estimate of N3, 311,525,000 which he said was expected to rekindle the hope of the people of Esan West in government. Tagged ‘Budget of Rejuvenation,’ he said the trust would be to improve the Internally Generated Revenue base of the local government and tackle a number of factors which in the past militated against the proper and accurate collection and remittance of fees and levies due to the council.
The chairman explained his administration’s strategies for implementing the budget as recovering all outstanding rates/levies due to the Council, dogged exploration of untapped revenue areas, strict implementation of local government approved rates/levies, involvement of interested firms in the public private partnership scheme, the use of credible and trusted contractors for the execution of projects, timely release of funds for projects, strict monitoring of the activities of revenue collectors and a periodic review of their performance as well as strengthening of revenue unit of the council so as to enhance efficiency will be employed to ensure the success of the budget of rejuvenation.
Irumundomo also said: “As far as I am concerned, the time when people spend money extravagantly because it is government money is gone for good. We cannot afford to be extravagant with the tax payers’ money, especially in my own administration.”
Mr. Akerejolu Joseph Folorunsho, chairman of Akoko-Edo Local Government Council, said his election was not aimed at punishing anyone. According to him, “As a young man, I know the role of the youth as well as the elders,” as he promised to carry everybody along. He said “everybody would be brought together in the scheme of things”, and urged the youths in the locality to be proactive and shun every form of illicit act capable of ruining their future.
The council boss also charged communities in the local government area to eschew any act that is capable of disrupting the peaceful co-existence in the place at a meeting with the traditional rulers and leaders of Ikpeshi and Egbigere clans in his office. According to him, without peace no development can take place. “I want to appeal to you all not to engage in any activities that can impede peace within and among neighbours because without peace no meaningful development can survive.”
The LG elections that brought in the chairmen was mired in controversy as the Edo State PDP chairman, Chief Dan Orbih rejected the results, accusing the ACN of denying voters across the state of electoral materials. He said, “Our party and Edo people have lost faith in EDSIEC. All Edo PDP members and Edo people must still be vigilant against the machinations of EDSIEC and their collaborators.”
The chairman, Edo State Labour Party, Sam Omede spoke in the same vein. He described it as a betrayal of the trust the Edo people reposed on the state governor, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, adding that the State Independent Electoral Commission deliberately ostracised his party from most of the ballot papers.
“As far as I know 99 percent of the local government election that has been declared, about seventeen local governments, there was no election. Oshiomhole should have appointed caretaker committee instead of doing this kangaroo election. He just used this one to fool Edo people and make mockery of democracy.”
Worried by the spate of public indignation, Oshiomhole asked the chairman of EDSIEC,
Solomon Ogor, or the contractors that printed the election materials to tender an apology to the people of Edo State for the late arrival of electoral materials.