As the local government chairman recently elected in Akwa Ibom State settle down in their offices, WatchmanPost Special Report looks at what the people’s expectations are in the new dispensation as put together by senior reporter Samuel Abasiekong Abasiekong and Assembly correspondent Emmanuel Ntekim.
The level of expectation of the people at the grassroots everywhere has become much more higher than in previous dispensations since the Supreme Court accorded autonomy to local government Councils on July 11, 2024.
In AkwaIbom State, a new crop of public office holders in the third tier of government was on October 7, 2024 constituted in all 31 Local Government Areas of the State.As elected officers of government who are expected to be accountable to the people, it behooveson each of them to know the realities of their respective local government areas and address them accordingly.Much expectations were not reposed on past chairmen of council than it is with the present chairmen whose tenure came at the era of local government autonomy where the AkwaIbom people at the grassroots do not expect them to rely on the state government to develop their respective areas.
As it stands, local government chairmen will receive their allocation directly into the account of their local government and deploy same to resolve the needs and demands of the area.
Rumour mills in AkwaIbom State say the newly sworn-in LG chairmen will still be caged in the trap of Joint-Account, where local government funds are paid into the treasury of the state and the latter will thereafter share to the third tier of government according to their respective demography.
The autonomy as it were, is to give local government council free and unrestrained measure to manage their funds, but if what the massesare saying is true or it is anything to go by, it means development at the grassroots will still remain at the mercy of the state.
Local government councils need to open up and construct their roads, schools need to be rehabilitated, salaries of primary school teachers at that level are usually paid by the council, rehabilitation of markets, primary health care centres and salaries of their staff should be taken care by the council.
Governor Umo Eno’s reactions over local government autonomy
Expressing his consent and respect for the just introduced autonomy of local government council in Nigeria, the AkwaIbom State governor, Pastor Umo Eno at the swearing-in of newly elected chairmen on October 7, 2024 said “As governor, I fully respect your autonomy” but he emphasized that for the State to progress there should be collaboration and shared responsibility at all tiers of government.
His earlier reactions after the Supreme Court handed down the verdict on the autonomy of local government councils on July 11, 2024, Governor Eno,onhis return from an official trip at Victor Attah International Airport, described the Supreme Court ruling granting financial autonomy to local governments as a welcome development and relief to state governments.
Heexpressed concerns over its effective implementation and the ability of the councils to handle their financial responsibilities.
The Governor noted that the Supreme Court verdict on local government autonomy remains sacrosanct, being the pronouncement of the final court in the land.
He noted that the judgment will not impact negatively on AkwaIbom State Government in any way. He remarked that so far his administration and even in previous years, local governments have been getting their due allocations without any interference with the operations of the joint account.
He affirmed that his administration’s ARISE Agenda places a premium on rural development.
Gov. Eno further said the present state government has channeled volumes of funds into offsetting arrears of gratuities, pensions, salaries, and other entitlements to local government workers across the 31 local government areas, noting that the autonomy granted to the third tier of government is a relief to the state government.
He expressed hope that local governments, under the new arrangement, would take over the responsibility of the prompt payment of salaries and other emoluments to teachers, health workers, and other LG workers to avoid leaving unnecessary burdens of arrears to successive governments.
In his word of support of the local government as ruled by the apex court, governor said: “The Supreme Court has made pronouncements. That’s the final court of the land, but for us in AkwaIbom, honestly, I don’t see us having any issues. For me, this is a welcome development because I know how much we, as a state, support the local governments.
“Since I assumed office, I’ve not touched any funds allocated to the local governments. The only challenge I envisage now, which we have to sit down and find a way around, is how the local government workers would be handled by chairmen of councils in this new arrangement”, he submitted.
Other AkwaIbom persons who reacted on what the people are expecting from the newly elected and sworn -in local government council chairmen have this to say:
Mercy Benjamin, Uyo (Caterer)
‘In the past chairmen of councils and councilors were fond of saying there was no money in the council. One councilor once said, some civil servants are better than them. He said a councilor’s salary was N15O, OOO (One hundred and fifty thousand naira only). He told me that the state government is taking all the money meant for local government, leaving them only what to pay salaries of teachers, nurses in health centers and to cut grass in the council. I tend to believe him in some aspects because of the monster called joint account that was the tradition in the whole country until about August or so when the Supreme Court ordered state government to leave local government councils alone and allow them to be on their own. Now there is autonomy, local government will have their funds directly paid into their account to execute projects in their areas. Indeed the expectation is high at the grassroots. People at there are now expecting a drastic change from what was obtainable in the past. That excuse that there is no money in council has to stop now. It must not only stop, it should be seen in terms of development in respective local government council and across the state. For me that is the expectation of the people all over AkwaIbom State.
Mr. Asuquo Bassey, civil servant and farmer
I may not impress your readers by my comment and I do not want to sit on the fence rather. In as much as I do not want to judge, let me say here that the local government election was a chasm. During the electioneering campaigns, the chairmen had nothing to say to the people because they had nothing to offer the local government electorate, they were only favoured by their godfathers who will also detects to them what they need to do in the local government council.
Let me say here that I do not expect much from the local government chairman of my local government. He cannot be indifferent from his predecessors. We generally, do not have a blueprint therefore the local government chairmen have nothing to work on. What can run the local government areas today is agriculture. How many of the local government chairmen are agriculturally oriented? How many of them have their base in the rural areas? You cannot give what you don’t have. What the rural communities need are only three things: road, electricity and water. Provide these three things, leave the local government for two years, on its own, you cannot meet it the way you met it.
The question now is: can the present chairmen provide these? Again, government is a continuum, for years now, have you seen the local government chairmen attempting these? What expectation should we have on this present local government chairmen? It will be the same tradition.
‘My advice is, for an accelerated socio-economic growth of the local government that will bear and move toward producing a substantial change in the local government, there should be credibility in the selection and the election processes of the local government chairmen. Not a situation where some so-called stakeholders will order enlistment of a candidate(s) to come and man the affairs of the local government areas.
‘We have to de-emphasize politics as an occupation for a humanitarian service-oriented participation. We should elect those that can interpret the rural need of the people and wheel the actions properly on addressing those needs. By law, local government has boundaries, but if they can make the people to return home agriculturally, I will give them my green card for satisfying my expectations.
Crown Prince Edidiong Umoh, CEO Pirathon (Nig) Ltd
Prince Umoh
‘Let me start by saying that the local government administration has started on a good note. Some of them have come in with an idea that can midwife development. I have great expectations from the present crops of leadership in the local government administration. Before now, the local government areas have been very far behind in development. If I should look at their scripts in percentage, the local government areas in AkwaIbom State were underdeveloped. People might attribute it to the lack of autonomy but to me I don’t think it was the issue of autonomy, but the mind set of those at the helms of affairs in the local government. The third tier of government in Nigeria is faced with the challenge of leadership and leadership recruitment process. The development challenges of the local government areas are caused by the leadership problems. The crops of people that were running and managing the local government affairs before now were really far away from leadership capacity. It could be because of the way they came into office and governance, which caused the underdevelopment of the local government areas
List of new local government council chairmen in AkwaIbom State
ICPC warning on autonomy
Besides the local government autonomy being the reason of much expectations for the present sets of chairmen of council, the country anti-graft agency in financial misappropriation has already sounded a note of warning to eventual defaulters to await the full wrath of the law. Thus, the chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Dr. Musa AdamuAliyu, SAN, has issued a stern warning that the Commission will not hesitate to take action against any official or individual who defies the Supreme Court’s ruling on local government autonomy.’
Speaking at the recently concluded 6th Annual General Assembly of the Network of Anti-Corruption Institutions in West Africa (NACIWA), Dr. Aliyu emphasized that the ICPC was committed to holding key stakeholders accountable, free from external interference.
His words, “What we have been focusing on is ensuring that critical stakeholders in this country are held accountable, and working to reduce corruption. We will hold a summit with these stakeholders to discuss collaborative efforts.
Underscoring the resolve of the commission on ensuring the terms of the autonomy is respected, he said, “As I have stated before, local governments must be politically independent, and any state-level official who violates this Supreme Court decision will be held accountable for gross misconduct and abuse of office.
“The ICPC is prepared to take action against anyone who goes against the Supreme Court’s decision on local government autonomy” he alerted.