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B N W: Biafra Nigeria World News |
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Obasanjo maintains stance on withholding council allocationAIDELOJE OJO, MinnaPOLITICAL solution might have failed in the resolution of dispute between the Federal Government and the five states whose local government allocations were withheld as President Olusegun Obasanjo had reportedly refused to shift grounds on the matter. DAILY TIMES learnt that the President had continued to maintain his stance in spite of several pleas from well placed citizens that he should release the funds to enable local government workers in the affected states get their salaries. Though the governors of the affected states had rushed to the Supreme Court to seek redress, they also had initiated executive meetings with the President with a view to resolving the matter out of court. DAILY TIMES learnt that the governors had held three such meetings with Obasanjo and that the meetings seemed to have yielded no fruits. The President reportedly wrote the governors of the affected states last Friday, insisting that they must disolve the local councils they created and meet other requirements stipulated by the Presidency before the withheld local government funds would be released. Contrary to popular belief, both Niger and Nasarawa states had not had their allocations released despite the fact that they had opted out of the court process instituted against the Federal Government on the vexed issue. Government House source in Minna told the DAILY TIMES that the state government had sent more than three enquiries to its bankers and the inter City Bank, to verify if the fund had been credited into its accounts, only to discover that such transaction had not taken place. Although the state government had continued to officially keep mute over the matter, the DAILY TIMES learnt that it was not true that the money had been released. When contacted, the Senior Special Assistant to Governor Abdulkadir Kure on Media Affairs, Alhaji Abdullahi Mohammed declined comments, saying it was only the governor that was competent to speak on the matter. Efforts to get the governor to speak on the matter however proved abortive as he was said to be too busy to meet the press.
Wednesday, July 14, 2004 |
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