In Osun, Local Govts Operate Freely Without Interference-Oyetola

Osun state Governor Adegboyega Oyetola has declared that local government Councils in his state operate freely without interference.

He said it will be unfair for any governor not to allow elected chairmen at the Local Government Councils to decide what they want in terms of human, capital and infrastructure development.

Oyetola spoke when he hosted the delegation of the Local Government Project Monitoring Team from the Office of the Secretary to the Governor of the Federation (SGF) at the Government House in Osogbo.

He described local government councils as a critical arm that should work to deliver development to the people.

“I believe in the functionality of local government administration. That is why we have given all the local governments and the Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) the independence to operate.

“To me, it is unfair for any governor not to allow people at the local government to decide what they want.

“We believe in transparency, accountability and probity that is why our administration has ensured that the resources of the local governments are not interfered with.

“We have given our Councils free-hand to operate and decide their affairs. We don’t toy with the administration of our local government because we believe so much in development.

“So, we thank you for finding it necessary to visit our state and for seeing things yourselves.

“We appreciate all your encomiums and commendations on our little efforts to develop the state, we are glad that our passion for grassroots development has been confirmed.”

Leader of the delegation of the Department State/Local Government Affairs Political and Economic Office, office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr. Kayode Adegbayo, lauded the administration of Governor Oyetola for taking leadership to the grassroots.
He rated Osun high in the attention to the development of the grassroots, saying Osun had done remarkably well by all standards.

Adegbayo expressed satisfaction with the level of development seen across the Local Government and LCDAs in the state, saying Osun had performed well.

He said, “What we have seen in terms of development across the local governments and LCDAs visited has shown that a round peg is in the round hole.

“What we have seen shows that the governor is focused and he is not distracted by the litigation that was just put to rest few weeks ago by the Supreme Court.

“We have seen your capacity and capability to govern this state and take it to the next level of all round development.

“It is our focus that if LGs are properly developed that will reduce rural- urban migration because if the rural areas are given adequate attention, there won’t be any need for the people particularly the youth to migrate to the urban.

“The assessment we have made at various Councils we visited showed that Osun has given the required attention to grassroots.

“This is a clear testimony that the government’s policies and programmes are designed to impact and touch lives of the people positively.

“We have seen the quality in the roads, bridges and a lot of infrastructure developments done to improve the livelihood at the grassroots.

“So, I want to encourage the local government leadership to do much in improving their Internally Generated Revenue (IGR)”, he said.