Daily Independent Online.
*
Wednesday, June 30, 2004.
Group blames under-development on states, LG
By Dan Alo
Correspondent, Lagos
Determined to raise
a grass root oriented government in the next dispensation, a political group
operating under the aegis of Reality 2007 has blamed underdevelopment of the
country on the mismanagement of states and local government funds.
The group said
unless the “masses cultivate the habit of been voted for and not being
voters alone, it will be difficult for them to control resources allocated to
their wards, local governments and states and also enjoy meaningful
development.”
Speaking on Monday
during a visit to the Daily Independent headquarters in Lagos, the
Executive Director of the Reality 2007 project, Mr. Ebunola Martins said,
“The money from the crude oil we sell in the country today,
investigations showed that the money is being shared amongst the federal,
states and the local governments. The Federal Government takes less than 45 per
cent of the revenue, the rest 55 per cent goes to the states and local
governments.”
Martins added that
“in Lagos alone, the least money given to any local government is N80
million while larger local governments like Etti-Osa gets up to N120 million,
if you multiply N100 million by 12 months that will give you N1.2 billion,
multiply this by four years it will amount to several billions of naira given
to these local governments yet we want the Federal Government alone to provide
roads, fuel, good education and other social amenities. Visit these local
governments, you cannot see any project so what do states and local governments
use the 55 per cent revenue allocated to them for?”
