FIC Report (Nasarawa State) – Nasarawa State Governor Abdullahi Sule has said the notion of autonomy for local government areas was mostly being viewed within the prism of resources, removal and installation of chairmen by governors.
He said the essence of autonomy was bigger and not restricted to the power of sitting governors to exercise control over the third tier of government.
According to the Governor, autonomy is about adequate funding and judicious use of resources for grassroots development.
He spoke after casting his vote at his Gudi country home in Akwanga local government area during the Local Government election held in the state recently.
He said contrary to the general notion, what most local government areas get as monthly allocations from the federation account is hardly enough to offset salary obligations at the councils.
He Asaid, his administration had been augmenting what was accruing to the local governments to enable them remain afloat.
“As far as their money is concerned, we have never participated in the sharing of their money. As a matter of fact, they had always received less than what they required. There were many times we had to augment from the state’s resources to manage the local government areas,” he stated.
He expressed optimism that allocations to the local government areas would improve with the Supreme Court judgments to enable elected chairmen transform the grassroots.
Governor Sule said his administration had made efforts to initiate structures for seamless implementation of the Supreme Court judgment.
He said the autonomy had been domesticated by the state House of Assembly, with the passage of a bill on the matter.
He said there was every need for close monitoring and supervision of how the incoming local government chairmen would manage their resources to avoid misappropriation of funds.
Speaking on the election, he commended the smooth and peaceful conduct of the exercise.
He appreciated the people of the state for embracing democracy and believing in the administration of the All Progressives Congress (APC) under the leadership of President Bola Tinubu.
“From what you can see, I have just voted in my polling unit along with my family. I can see the process going smoothly. There is no rancour, no misunderstanding. I understand that about 11 political parties are participating. Yet, it does not look like we are having any kind of rancour whatsoever. Even though this is a unit where there was never a rancuor. We thank God Almighty for what we are hearing all over the state,” he said.
In another development Nasarawa State Independent Electoral Commission (NASIEC) has announced the results of the Saturday 2nd November local government elections in the state to usher in chairmen and councilors of the thirteen local government areas and 147 electoral wards in the state.
Chairman of NASIEC, Barr. Ayuba Wandai Usman made the declaration today in Lafia after the smooth conduct of election in the state.
Barr. Usman announced that, candidates of the All Progressives Congress won in the chairmanship contest with results as thus; Lafia (217573), Doma (70545), Keana (35094), Awe (59206), Obi (93486), Keffi (74419), Kokona (53057), Akwanga (82075), Toto (43792), Karu (146450), Wamba (39377), Nasarawa (96358) and Nasarawa-Eggon (94497).
He said the exercise was entirely peaceful, expressing profound appreciation to the voting public for unwavering resolve towards entrenching democracy at the grassroots level.
He added that the election reflected the accessibility and cooperation of all stakeholders to promote political participation in the state.
Barr. Usman added that the turnout was massive despite a spate of voter apathy which he attributed to communal consensus.
He said the participation of 14 political parties in the electoral process underscored the confidence of the parties in the election, noting that the use of technology had further made the process seamless and efficient.
He said the success of the election was due to the robust awareness campaign carried out by the commission, the cooperation of the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) and the relentless determination of security agencies to maintain peace and public order.
The electoral umpire boss equally emphasized NASIEC’s commitment to upholding democracy by ensuring an acceptable, transparent and credible election outcome.
Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) won two councillorship seats in Doma while the Social Democratic Party (SDP) secured four councillorship seats in Nasarawa-Eggon and one councillorship seat in Akwanga local government.
MUNDUNG SOLOMON.
(AEO INFORMATION),
EDITED BY
ARI, LIMAN AMINU.
HOC, FIC, LAFIA.
