A Chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) In Abia State, Prince Paul Ikonne, has accused Governor Alex Otti of trying to invent new laws that would empower him to continue using local government funds the way he pleases.
Naijaonpoint reports that President Bola Tinubu had recently expressed his concern over the refusal by governors to obey the Supreme Court judgment on the Local Government Autonomy.
Speaking on the development during an interview on Television Continental (TVC), Ikonne, who is the immediate-past Executive Secretary of the National Agricultural Land Development Authority (NALDA), claimed that Otti is one of the governors disobeying Tinubu’s directive.
He said that, unlike Abia State, Local Government Areas in Lagos State are executing projects.
“In Lagos State, you see local government building health centers and building schools. They are also council-elected chairmen and councillors. So, the issue of knowing them may not be the issue, but the governor should know that local government is another tier of government that is closer to the people, closer to the farmers, closer to the less privileged, closer to the widows, and closer to the disabled people.
“But in some other states, like in Abia State, for example, the governor of Abia State is trying to amend the laws and find a way to create new laws that will empower him to continue using the local government funds at will, at his pleasure.”
Ikonne challenged the Alex Otti-led administration to come out openly and tell Nigerians how he has utilised LG funds in the state.
He said, “One would have imagined that being a Labour Party, they would have used this as an example to show what they would do. But unfortunately, if you get to Abia State, you find out why Abians, Nigerians in general, will not let anything labour come up again. Because the party in power in Abia State has ruined the local government system, in the sense that you cannot lay hands on any single project executed by the local government authority.”