Posted by By FELIX OBOAGWINA on
Lagos chapter of the Democratic Peoples' Alliance (DPA) has asked Governor Babatunde Fashola to sack and prosecute corrupt council administrators instead of withholding local government funds for fear of mismanagement.
Lagos chapter of the Democratic Peoples' Alliance (DPA) has asked Governor Babatunde Fashola to sack and prosecute corrupt council administrators instead of withholding local government funds for fear of mismanagement.
The state claims its withholding N10 billion local government funds recently released by the Federal Government on the ground that council administrators had not justified earlier allocations.
'What Lagos State is doing amounts to punishing one person for the sins of another," DPA said in a statement by its Director of Publicity, Felix Oboagwina. 'It is the finger that offends that the king amputates. If the council caretakers indulge in corrupt practices, their sins should not be visited on staff and citizens in the councils.
Since the government claims to have proof of corruption by council bosses, it should bring charges against them before anti-graft agencies like the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC)," the party stated.
According to the Chairman, Local Government Committee in the State House of Assembly, Hon. Adewunmi Onibiyo Adelabu, the funds were being withheld by the state government because of non-performance by council administrators, appointed by former governor, Bola Tinubu to replace elected officials whose tenure had lapsed.
Justifying the government's reluctance to release the funds to council administrators, Adelabu had said in a newspaper interview at the weekend, 'They are yet to account for what they have take, money cannot just be released like that. We want people to see the results."
While reacting to the lawmaker's claim, DPA said 'the revelations justify misgivings in many quarters that council funds have been diverted in this democratic dispensation. Such diversion is especially facilitated by the fact that these local government executive secretaries hold loyalty to those AC elements, who facilitated their appointment."
Protesting the seized funds, DPA accused the state government of repeating the same bitter pill that the councils swallowed under President Obasanjo, when the Federal Government seized the funds on the basis that new councils were illegal creations of former governor Tinubu.
According to the party, nowhere in the country's statutes were states mandated to sit over council funds.
'If it was illegal for Obasanjo to seize the funds and the Supreme Court ruled so, then it is wrong for Fashola to withhold them," DPA said, adding, ' Lagos State is exhibiting extreme impunity in its relationship with the local governments and we marvel that this illegality can happen under a government headed by a Senior Advocate of Nigeria."
In addition, DPA said the government's action amounted to grinding government to a halt at the grassroots level.
The party pointed out that AC's stranglehold on the councils had not translated to services and democracy dividends for the ordinary folks, forcing them to resort to self-help and community efforts for streetlights, water, good roads, drainage and de-flooding.