By Editor
Thursday January 4, 2024 was epoch making in Ekiti State as all roads led to the Oshuntokun Pavilion Government House venue of the swearing in of the newly elected chairmen and their deputies barely one month after the December 2, 2023 Local Government elections in the state.
The mammoth crowd of people from the 16 Local Government areas and 22 LCDAs that thronged the venue of the carnival -like event indicated the importance of the third-tier administration at the level of grassroots development.
It is equally worthy of note that the newly elected council chairmen would be the first beneficiaries of the 3-year tenure as passed by the Ekiti State House of Assembly.
The Governor who was represented by the Deputy Governor, Chief Mrs Monisola Afuye in his opening address described the Local Government as the integral part of overall development focus and strategy of his government that requires attention to tackle the menace of poverty, joblessness and insecurity.
The Governor praised the immediate past chairmen and those that were re- elected for demonstrating enough political and administrative acumen to deliver inspite of the multifarious challenges associated with being pioneers.
Expressing zero tolerance for corruption and pilfering of council funds, the governor urged them to discharge their duties with utmost honesty, impartiality, even handedness compassion and fairness adding that they must work assiduously for the actualisation of the shared prosperity mantra of his administration.
On his commitment to stamp out banditry, kidnappings and other criminal elements out of Ekiti, Governor Oyebanji charged the chairmen to prioritize security at all times saying; “You must be deliberate about this”
His words; “Your security plans and strategies should be communicated to me through the office of Special Adviser on Security as soon as you take over. I will not tolerate any security lapses in your domains, therefore ensure all critical stakeholders are carried along and are involved”
Speaking further, Oyebanji advised the new council chairmen against relying solely on the funds accruing to them from the federation and state accounts to run the affairs of the council to avert administrative failure and inability to fulfill their electioneering promises.
“You need money to run a successful administration. It is not enough to rely on federal and state allocations, you have to improve on your internally generated revenue and ensure it forms a sizable source of your funding revenue
The Chairman of AJONI LCDA Prince Michael Ogungbemi who spoke on behalf of his colleagues pledged that they would work hard to surpass the expectations of the Governor in their performances adding that the new council bosses will compliment the governor’s deft to rescue Ekiti from poverty by replicating his policies at the local government level.
