Govt may stop deductions of council funds by states
From Jane Ezereonwu and Okuephuna, Chukwunecke, Abuja
PIQUED by what he called illegal deductions of council funds by state governments, President Olusegun Obasanjo said yesterday in Abuja that the federal government may be compelled to stop the action.
Obasanjo who spoke at a national seminar for the 774 councils in the country condemned the deductions, saying it was absolutely illegal to do so by any state government.
The President noted that the third tier of government remains the closest form of government nearest to Nigerians.
Obasanjo described such illegal deductions from as not being only anti-democratic but also immoral and capable of scuttling the efforts of the present administration at the grassroots level.
His words: "This act stands condemnable. We can't condone this. It is morally wrong and unjustified. Since these are the government nearest to the people they should be encourage to enable them to do their development work effectively.
The success of this dispensation lies on the success at the grassroots level. And that is the main reason these allocations should be given to the untouched."
Obasanjo however, berated those he described as unscrupulous element in the local government.
In his remark, at the seminar tagged, "National Security, NEEDS, Accountability, new Pensions Insurance Scheme for local governments", the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Board of Trustees chairman, Chief Tony Anenih said that the success of democracy to a very large extent rests on the success of the third tier of government.
"At the risk of repeating myself, I wish to reiterate that the success of our democracy to a large extent rests on local government functionaries.
The federal government has increased the revenue allocated to local government since President Olusegun Obasanjo came to office in may 1999. I believe that the issue of illegal deduction is now being addressed by the federal government and by the party."
He however appealed to heads of the 774 councils to be alive and make sure the funds were not be being tampered with, adding "I must however appeal to you all to be alive to your responsibilities and insist that funds allocated or due to you are not arbitrarily tampered wit.
