The Bayelsa government
has denied diversion of funds earmarked for he local governments and rather
blamed paucity of funds at the third tier of government on the economic
recession.
The government said that
eight Local Government Areas (LGA) in Bayelsa shared N1.3 billion of the first
tranche Paris Club refund from the N14.5 billion remitted to the state by the
Federal Government.
Dr Agatha Goma,
Commissioner for Local Government Administration in Bayelsa who gave the
figures in a press briefing. on Monday noted that the councils deployed the
funds to clear salary backlogs in the eight LGAs.
She however said that
the fund was not sufficient to clear the entire backlog as various councils
have varying wage bills even as their fund receipts and revenue earnings
varied..
Goma reiterated that the
funds accruing to the local government system were not tampered with as Gov
Seriake Dickson had put in place a transparent system pfpublic finance
management that ensure that council funds get to them.
“It is important to
restate that what the councils in Bayelsa are facing is as a result of the
recession which has taken its toll on the revenue accruable to all tiers of
government, nobody tampers with council funds in Bayelsa.
“Even though we run a
unified local government system, the same amount that accrues to the local
governments is what is remitted to them and they ere financially autonomous.
“The local government
component of both the bailout funds from the Federal Government and the Paris
Club refunds was remitted to the eight local governments and they were
judiciously used,
“In the first tranche of
the Paris Club refunds, the local government share was N1.3 billion and details
of what each council got will be provided by representatives of the LGA here,”
Goma
President Muhammadu
Buhari had on March 23 approved the disbursement of the second tranche of the
Paris Club loan refunds to states that had disbursed the first tranche to local
governments.
It was also gathered
that accountability of the disbursement of the first tranche was a prerequisite
for states to benefit from the second tranche of the disbursement.
This has raised fears
that states that diverted the first tranche might be disqualified from
benefitting from the second tranche due for disbursement.
Representatives of
Bayelsa chapter of Association of Local Governments of Nigeria,(ALGON) attended
the news conference.
The Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON)
Secretary and Ogbia Local Government Caretaker Committee Chairman, Mr Ebiango
Egain said councils shared the N1,3 bn and deployed same to clear outstanding
salaries.
Egain
commended Gov Dickson, for ensuring that council funds are released to the
local government as received from the federal government.
“Neither
the Governor, the Deputy Governor, the Commissioner for Local Government
Administration nor the state Government is tampering with our funds.
“Yes,
there is control to ensure conformity with state government development agenda
but there is no illegal deduction,” Egain said.
The breakdown of the
N1.3 billion shared among the eight councils according to ALGON were Brass
Local Government, N158.5 million; Ekeremor Local Government, N182.2 million;
Kolokuma/Opokuma, N122.6 million; and Ogbia, N157.9 million.
The others were Sagbama
N155.4 million; Nembe, N147.9 million; Southern Ijaw, N209.4 million; and
Yenagoa, N199.1 million.
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