Dele Olaosebikan
THE Thirty-Three (33) local government chairmen in Oyo State have jointly decided to break away from the Association of Local Government of Nigeria (ALGON). They want to form a new association.
They insist that the federal government should keep paying their allocation via the state machinery. They said they are with Governor Seyi Makinde’s stance on local government autonomy.
Eighteen-Eleven Media earlier gathered Governor Makinde actually mandated the council bosses in the state to hold a joint press conference, disassociate themselves from the ALGON, and oppose the recent Supreme Court judgment on local government financial autonomy.
The directive was issued during a closed-door meeting, according to a reliable source.
Governor Makinde’s order comes in the wake of a landmark judgment by the Supreme Court, which declared that allocations to local governments should be paid directly to democratically elected local government councils.
The Supreme Court’s decision explicitly stated that state governments lack the authority to manage federal allocations on behalf of local governments, a practice deemed unconstitutional by the court.
However, Governor Makinde has taken a contrary stance, instructing that Oyo State’s local government allocations be directed to the State Joint Local Government Account instead.
The governor has emphasized that the press release disassociating from ALGON and opposing the Supreme Court ruling must be made before he departs for his vacation. Furthermore, he warned that any chairman who fails to comply with this directive will face severe consequences.
Governor Makinde had in a recent interaction with newsmen said: “So, on the issue of local government elections in Oyo State, we don’t have caretaker committees at the local level. We planned the elections in a way that not a single day was given out. We have a responsible government in Oyo State, we don’t need the federal government to tell us what to do. We know what is good and we know what is good for our people.
“Go back a little bit; what we inherited as an administration in 2019 was a local government system that was owing a backlog of salaries, gratuities, and pensions. I am saying this because Oyo State will get out of this even stronger. We are people that know what is good for our people. We can run our affairs by ourselves. The FG is not superior constitutionally to the state government though they have more resources than the states. So, we can do what is right in Oyo State and we have been doing what is right.
“For the primary school teachers, the Chairman of NUT is here. Before we came in, leave bonuses were last paid in 2017, and we paid that in 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023. The primary healthcare facilities and inner roads were all in bad shape. We All have been working collaboratively with the LGs to deliver dividends of democracy to our people.
“We were able to clear those salary arrears. We paid N18bn in pension and gratuities over these periods. We upgraded about 209 PHCs, equipped about 264, and completed 60 model schools. We constructed and renovated hundreds of primary school classrooms and fixed some Omer roads but there are still challenges that we have to address. We still have a backlog of gratuities and pensions.
“The local government is owing about N55bn in pension and gratuities. We are developing infrastructure that would push the economy and raise the living standard of their people and push their economy towards sustainable goals. But for us, at that time, our priority was not to deploy resources. What I am hearing right now is that our problem is not also money but how to share it. But I insist that our problem is not how to share money but how to bake a bigger cake and bring our people out of hunger and poverty and stop the anger in the land.
“Our people do not care if the road is fixed by the FG or the state government or the LG. They just want to see good roads. An example is the Oyo-Iseyin road through Fasola, which is a Federal Government road, but the state government fixed it, and I have the letter for the FG when I wrote it for approval. It is a critical road to the Oyo State economy.
“I believe it is our problem irrespective of what they are doing at the federal level. We know what is important to the lives of our own people here in Oyo State. I learnt FAAC is tomorrow (Tuesday) and all of you can come. We will delay the implementation for the next ninety days, which is three FAACs from now. They will still pay the money into the JAC account.
“You make the laws; you break them. So, the law is at your own… That is not how to run a country. If you make the law, let us all obey the law. For us in Oyo State, we can solve our own problems, deal with our situation, and prioritize our people. Our pass mark is to discuss among ourselves and whatever we agree upon.
“I am not saying things should not be transparent at the local government level but it is a distraction to say this is the magic bullet that will wash away our problems. NULGE is here, NUP, NUT, and others are here. So, let us sit down and discuss and fashion out our own way out of this issue.” Governor Makinde said.
” NULGE is here, NUP, NUT, and others are here. So, let us sit down and discuss and fashion our own way out of this issue.” Governor Makinde said.
Eighteen-Eleven Media