Chief Rex Olawoye, an aspirant to the House of Representatives from Kwara State, said on Tuesday that the proposed autonomy for local governments in the country would give them a new lease of life.
Olawoye, a two-time Chairman of Ifelodun Local Government Area of Kwara State, said this on Tuesday in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Ilorin.
“By this autonomy, a new lease of life has come to the local government councils in the country and will make them perform better,” Olawoye added.
He commended the National Assembly for the bold move, saying it would truly make the councils the third arm of government as enshrined in the 1999 Constitution.
Olawoye, eyeing the Ifelodun/Oyun/Offa Federal Constituency on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, said Nigerians had always misinterpreted the joint account between states and local governments.
Olawoye, who was the former Publicity Secretary of the PDP in the state, said state governments capitalised on the misinterpretation to emasculate the councils.
The aspirant said that the constitution mandated the states to augment local councils’ revenues with 10 per cent of the state Internally Generate Revenue.
He said the autonomy would enable councils to conceive, initiate and execute projects that would have direct impact on the lives of the people in the rural areas.
Olawoye said the autonomy meant payment of local governments’ allocation directly to their accounts and for each of them to choose how to operate the accounts.
Olawoye added that during his tenures as chairman of the council, he built new markets, rehabilitated old ones, opened up rural roads and refurbished classrooms for quality education.
He called on the people to elect credible candidates with integrity as chairmen and councillors to the local governments.
“We need to elect people of high calibre and integrity as chairmen and councillors to be able to effectively manage the resources of the councils for people’s benefit,” he added.
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