In South-South states, LG chairmen rule from exile

By Emma Amaize
EXCEPT for one or two states  in the Niger Delta region, where there seems to be some kind of sanity, local government chairmen in the region act like thin gods. Their style of governance is baffling as they reside and administer their councils from outside the council areas, and so, hardly know their people.

Most of them are also either not well-informed about their constitutionally-approved functions or have simply abandoned their primary duties to the people.

Uduaghan, Oshiomhole, Imoke, Amaechi, Dickson and Akpabio

Also worrisome to the citizens is the fact that the chairmen, who come to the council headquarters once or twice in a month to preside over the sharing of monthly allocations, have transferred their absentee malady to workers, who now stay away from offices on workdays.

For example, despite the clear directive from Governor Liyel Imoke of Cross River State that the chairmen in his state operate from their respective secretariat, virtually all the chairmen reside in Calabar, the state capital.

In Delta State, the naivety of most of them is blatant, while in Akwa Ibom, disorder is widespread spread.

Govs’ efforts

Before Governor Rotimi Amaechi swore in the current set of caretaker chairmen in the state, it was the same experience and even now it has not changed. Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State and Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State made bold efforts to rein in the mayors, but they still have a way of sneaking out of jurisdiction, sometimes on grounds that the citizens were mounting suffocating pressures on them for unofficial reason or they want to see their families in the state capital.

Though, the third tier of government is supposed to be autonomous, it is not by the operation of the constitution today. And councillors, who ought to act as a form of check on the chairmen, are spineless because an aggrieved chair could seize their booty.

Even worse is that the states Houses of Assembly, which really has a constitutional responsibility to oversee the local governments, are also fumbling in their oversight task, while many traditional rulers play dumb for pecuniary reason.

It is, therefore, not surprising that some chairmen allegedly share allocations of their councils with godfathers and party chieftains, who facilitated their emergence, leaving little for development projects in the affected areas.

Some chairmen admitted to Niger Delta Voice that a number of their colleagues were really behaving inexcusably in the eyes of the people.

Unknown areas

From available reports, the chairmen have not even stepped their feet on poverty-stricken communities, not to talk of knowing and attending to their problems. The people of Belekete, Obanlikwu Local Government, Cross-River State; Abobiri, Ogbia Local Government Area, Bayelsa State; Rumuodogo 2, Emohua Local Government, Rivers State; Oko Ibiet Esa, Akwa-Ibom State; Assah, Ughelli South Local Government, Delta and Gelegele, Ovia North-East Local Government, Edo State, have their bitter tales.

The chairmen of Patani Local Government in Delta State, Dr. Chris Ekiyor; Southern Ijaw Local Government, Bayelsa State, Elder Remember Ogbe; Ibesikpo Asutan Local Government, Akwa Ibom, Mr. James Ekpe; Ovia South-West Local Government, Edo State, Mr. Morrison Ogunrobo-Ovia, among others, nevertheless, counted themselves out of the shame, saying they reside in their councils and have impacted on the communities since they came on board.

Irony of LG functions

Niger Delta Voice investigations, however, showed that the third tier of government has largely failed the people of region. Most of the chairmen agree, as constitutionally provided, that collection of revenue from restaurants, bakeries, licensing of vehicle and movable trucks, rates from slaughter slabs, radio and television licenses fall under their purview.

However, they hardly think that it is their responsibility to construct roads, maintain healthcare facilities, and so on, which is also constitutionally stipulated and that is the irony of it is all— the foundation of their bizarre governance, rooted in naivety.

This is where governors, who appointed them in most cases, have some work to do. This edition focuses on the local governments.

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Frank Adeh

Hi. I’m a Web Developer and Graphics Designer, I enjoy blogging as part-time and I draw a lot when I’m free. Thanks for visiting my blog today and I hope you come back next time.

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