By Olanrewaju Adesanya
Sequel the low performance in impactful delivery of good governance at the local council level, which rubs off negatively on the lives of people in Ikorodu area of Lagos State,the House Committee on Local Government and Community Affairs has summoned council officials and certain contractors for questioning.
The Chairman of the said committee, Hon.Abdulsobur Olawale Olayiwola, faulted a number of council chiefs who claimed paucity of funds have been the bane of infrastructural development in their domain, citing their refusal to leverage on the surrounding opportunities via which their internally generated revenues can be shored up as clear signal of their ineptitude.
Olayiwola who led a delegation of lawmakers and staffers of the Assembly on an oversight function across the local councils in Ikorodu area; from Ikorodu West LCDA,Ikorodu Local Government,Igbogbo Baiyeku LCDA,Ijede LCDA,Imota LCDA and Ikorodu North LCDA,mirrored his findings citing some flaws in the style of governance at the most cardinal aspect,grassroots.
The Chairmen spoke to newsmen at different times during the oversight function of the House Committee of the Lagos State House of Assembly held yesterday in Lagos.
The Council Chairman, Ikorodu West LCDA, Hon. Olajumoke Jimbo-Ademehin said that efforts are being made to jerk up the revenue of the council in order to meet their infrastructural needs.
Olajumoke claimed that the Council is trying all it could to do the little it can due to its topography and the long span of roads networks in her area which she could barely grade,adding that it will take state intervention to have it tarred.
She, however, noted that part of the efforts they have been exerting is the acquisition and allocation of buses to each ward for easy mobility towards the purpose.
“We are in a move to improve our internally Generated Revenue (IGR). So, that is why we have got vehicles that will go ward by ward.
“We have five revenue buses now, with each for each ward so as to generate the revenue.
“Because of the nature of our local government, we are trying to do the ones we can do. Most of our roads are lengthy to an extent that without state support nothing meaningful can be achieved.
“We need more money to tar our roads and that is why we subscribed to grading.
“We have approached the state to do some of these roads and the states have come to offer assistance.” She said.
The Chairman, Ikorodu Local Government, Hon. Wasiu Ayodeji also acknowledged the challenge of finance as the administration is currently divided into six.
“The challenge so pressing to us is finance. You know the Ikorodu local government is splitted into six.” Wasiu said.
However, The House Committee Chairman, Hon. Sobur Olayiwola disagreed the claim of no funds, saying there is enough funds from the federal and state governments into the local governments.
Sobur noted that the issue is lack of creative ideas of generating funds to help the Councils develop in terms of infrastructure.
The Chairman said that the local government is surrounded by commercial ventures even though it is an agrarian community, adding that there is need for the Council Chairmen to display ingenuity and ability to turns things around with opportunities of revenues that abounds in the area via which they can generate funds.
“I don’t know what they mean by paucity of funds. You and I know that there is enough fund coming from the Federal as well as the state into the local government administration.
“What I discovered is that they are not putting ingenuity to bear on generation of funds for the local council administration. They are not using their creative ways to generate funds.
“Agreed, it is an agrarian area but still surrounded by many commercial ventures that they can latch on.
“The leadership of the council still need to be guided and enlightened on how to generate funds.” He said.
In a keen analysis of the situation observed at the arm of government closest to the people,Lawmaker representing Alimosho constituency 2, Hon. Kehinde Joseph said that the claims of paucity of funds is not tenable as they have not been able to measure up even with the given allocation.
Kehinde, who object the view that ikorodu local governments don’t have enough money prior to the oversight function, questioned what they have been using their little allocation for even as most of them are yet to pay severance to the political office holders as directed by the state Assembly before the expiration of their tenure.
“Before our visitation, I was one of those people that usually believe that Ikorodu does not have money.
“But, sincerely speaking, their level of allocation is not commensurate with what they have done looking at what have been happening since most of them became chairmen over three and a half years ago.
“If they are saying they don’t have enough funds, are they judiciously spending the ones they have collected.
“As you have seen during the questioning, virtually none of them has made severance as they have been mandated to do for political office holders before the end of their tenure.” Kehinde said.