Six Months After LG Election In Ondo, Councillors Yet To Be Sworn In |The Source

By Ayodele Oni

More than five months after their election, over 180 Local Government  Councillors-elect in Ondo state are still waiting for Inauguration.

The Local  Government  election was held in all the 18 Local  Government  Areas of the state on August 20, 2020, after suffering two postponements.

Council chairmen were sworn in four days after the conduct of the polls, but the Councillors-elect are still waiting for a green light for their inauguration from Governor Rotimi Akeredolu.

Investigations revealed that paucity of funds in the Local  govern6ments in the State, coupled with the need to amend some sections in the Local  Governments  law have been adduced for the delay.

Despite not being sworn in, the Councillors-elect are reported, allegedly, to be drawing salaries from Councils’ coffers.

A top government official explained that “they would have been Inaugurated immediately after the Chairmen were sworn-in. But it was discovered that the law regulating Local  Governments  in the state needed to be amended to correct some errors.

“The amendment has since been done by the Ondo State House of Assembly. It is not clear to me what has been delaying the inauguration since then.”

Another source said: “Governor Akeredolu is conscious of the problem of low revenue in the Councils.

“What is coming from the federation account is not enough to pay salaries of council workers.

“This is because Covid-19 has seriously dealt with the country’s economy.

“If the legislative councils in all the 18 Local  Governments  have been inaugurated, those looking for appointments as supervisors, advisers and others would be putting pressure. Where is the money to pay them?”

Workers in the state, including those from the Local  Governments  Service  are expected to receive 50 percent of their November salary this week.

Unions in the State  Public Service  threatened twice in December, 2020, to go on strike due to non payment of salaries and non remittance of deductions but had to be stopped by Government which hurriedly paid a month salary.