19th October, 2015
Abiodun Onafuye/Abeokuta
Transition Committee Chairmen in the 20 Local Government Council Areas in Ogun State have been asked to devise a creative means of generating revenue to meet the shortfall from the Federation Account in order to fulfill their obligations to the citizens.
The call was made by the Chairman, State House of Assembly Committee on Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Olusola Sonuga during the 2015 assessment tour of the local councils in the state.
Sonuga, who led the committee members to Sagamu and Obafemi/Owode Local Government Councils, noted that there was need for the third tier of government to evolve strategic means of improving their Internally Generated Revenue, IGR, as the dwindling finance accruable to the councils from the Federal Allocation was not enough to meet their financial obligations to the people.
He explained that the assessment tour was in line with Sections 128 (1and 2) of the 1999 Constitution as amended and was meant to ensure that the local governments gave the best in terms of quality service delivery to the people and promoting accountability and transparency which are the tenets of good governance.
The lawmaker advised that the transition members and career officers should synergize with a view to adopting measures at improving their revenue without necessarily putting burden on the people.
The House Committee also mandated sanitary officers of both councils to be more proactive at ensuring proper monitoring of environmental sanitation and punish those who contravene sanitation laws through fines and levies.
The lawmaker, who was in company of other lawmakers, also urged the Transition Chairmen to complement the ongoing Rebuilding Mission of the Senator Ibikunle Amosun -led administration at the grassroots level.
Other members who spoke during the tour enjoined the council chairmen to diversify by investing in agriculture and other investments that could boost their revenue generation.
In their various responses, the Chairman, Sagamu Local Government, Solomon Awoniyi and his Obafemi/Owode counterpart, Adeola Akintande noted that scarcity of funds had been a major challenge in the running of the councils.
They commended the Federal and State governments for their bailout which was being used to clear arrears of workers’ deductions at the state and local government levels.