From Bode Durojaiye, Oyo.
Elders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Oyo State may be heading for a showdown with Governor Abiola Ajimobi over the appointment of members of the 33 Local Governments Caretaker Committees.
The tenure of most of the local government caretaker committees, extended for four consecutive terms of six months each by the last House of Assembly, was expected to have been terminated at the expiration of the governor’s first term in office while compilation of new names are expected to be submitted to the House of Assembly through the governor, by leaders and elders of the party for ratification.
But Fredom Online reliably gathered that the governor was not favourably disposed to the idea .
It was learnt that the governor would rather prefer to re-appoint the same set of council caretaker committee members, especially those who worked for his re-election on April 11.
“These LGl caretaker committees will be re appointed for another six months after ratification by the lawmakers pending the re constitution of the state independent electoral commission [OSIEC] that will conduct the councils poll’, a top party official hinted.
This, however, did not go down well with elders and leaders of the party in many local governments who saw the move as “unilateral, autocratic, unfair and partial’’.
The aggrieved leaders demanded to know why were the Federation Account Allocations meant for the local governments were drastically slashed by the State Government in the last four years.
“What of the Excess Crude Oil Account Allocations meant for the councils for specific capital projects? What happens to proceeds from these deductions? Can we say with all honesty that projects embarked on by most of these councils’ caretaker committees were commensurate with both the federation account and excess crude oil account allocated from Abuja? All these pertinent questions formed the basis of our worries and outright rejection of return of the same set of council caretaker committees to power’’.
Some residents, who also spoke to our correspondent in Ogbomoso, Oyo and Oke-Ogun areas said: “Dualisation of roads being embarked upon by the state government was playing to the gallery and mere duplication of efforts. Since part of the money for the project are councils’ funds, why can’t the government delegate the projects to them (councils)? After all, they have competent and qualified manpower”
Mr. Musibau Alani and Alice Opeoluwa from Oyo, Abdullahi Malik and Bimbola Olaomo from Ogbomoso as well as James Oriade and Enitan Ogo Oluwa from Ibadan wondered why the state government found it difficult to pay workers’ salaries for months, in spite of heavy deductions from both the Federation Account and Excess Crude Oil Account Allocations to the 33 Local Governments in the State.
“We urge the EFCC to beam its searchlight on the funding and operations of the local governments in the state in the last four years, with a view to ascertaining the exact amount deducted by the state government so far from the two accounts and the whereabout of the proceeds from deductions.’’
According to them, “we must be blunt in evaluating what has gone wrong – perhaps the moral outrage that results will be the basis for action to change things for the better. Strangely, the people seem to have focused their attention more on goings-on in Abuja, where, admittedly, many outrage and obscene things are the order of the day at the state level, without being bothered by large scale corruption and financial impropriety similarly taking place at the council level”.
The embittered residents averred that “there is nowhere this “egregious graft” is more evident as in the management of the huge monthly allocations from the Federation Account Allocation to the local government areas and it is like nobody appears to care as to what happens to the huge allocations accruable to the councils every month and which are meant to perform statutory functions such as the repair of local feeder roads, streets, construction of public health centres, maintenance of local dispensaries, parks, gardens as well as markets and abattoirs. But were they able to accomplish these responsibilities?”
They advised Ajimobi to learn from his Kaduna State counterpart, Mallam Nasir El Rufai, who recently granted Local Governments in the North-West state full autonomy.
Meanwhile, concerned Oke-Ogun residents have called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to investigate the whereabouts of over N800 million earmarked for capital projects in the 2012 Budget in the area, but which was diverted.
Contrary to propaganda by the Oyo State Government that the 2012 Budget ws fully implemented, investigation revealed that projects slated and situated for execution in Oke-Ogun are neither implemented, nor whereabouts of funds earmarked for them unknown.
These facts were revealed by a group known as Civil Coalition for Good Governance.
The group is being coordinated by the Justice Development and Peace Movement (JDPM), an arm of the Catholic Diocese of Oyo.
The forum meets monthly to interact on peoples’ interests, what affects their lives, and on common challenges.
The interactive forum is open to a cross section of people including lecturers, civil servants, women, youths, contractors, traders, artisans and transporters from seven local governments in Oke-Ogun area.
Coordinator of the group, Mr. Dominic Taiwo, said that it took four months to monitor the 2012 Budget in the three zones of the state, to ascertain the veracity of its implementation.
The forum noted that works are yet to begin on the N600 million earmarked for the rehabilitation of Oke-Ogun roads.
“These roads include Alaga/Ago-Are/Saki at a cost of N380 million and Iganna/Iwere-ile/Ijio/Ayegun at a cost of N200 million. These roads remain as undulating as they were without any sign of rehabilitation. Another road, which is Bode –Isalu/ Oke Adeta/ Oke-Afin/ Iseyin road put at a cost of N8.2million, is yet to be implemented.”
He further disclosed that N17.5 million earmarked for the rehabilitation of rural water supply at Ago-Amodu, Ogboro, Akufo, Okeho and Alabata communities were yet to see the light of the day.
“What is more, the state government, in its 2012 Budget, said it would construct three workshops at Government Technical Colleges in Iseyin, Saki and Ibadan at a cost of N78 million Till now, that of Iseyin and Saki were yet to be constructed, though we couldn’t say that of Ibadan, the state capital. Also, construction of fence at the General Hospital, Iwere-Ile, and procurement of a 30KVA transformer for the General Hospital in Iseyin, all at a cost of N10 million, are yet to be executed”.
Corroborating the Forum’s comment, a Non Governmental Organisation, DEMOCRACY WATCH, confirmed that the anti-graft agency has already been alerted on behalf of concerned Oke-Ogun elite.
