I Don’t Tamper With LG Funds – Gov Aliyu

The Niger State governor, Dr. Babangida Aliyu, has accused local government chairmen in the country of behaving like dictators in their various councils, adding that he had never tampered with his state’s local government fund.

Aliyu who spoke at the swearing in of the acting chairman of Edati Local Government Area, Alhaji Isah Usman Kwale at the government house yesterday, also noted that LGA chairmen were in the habit of abandoning their duty post for the state’s capital, only returning to their local government headquarters to share money.

“They (local government chairmen) have turned themselves to dictators. Some don’t stay at their headquarters, some run their councils as if it is their personal kingdom and most of them don’t have fiscal discipline,” he said.

The governor stated further that ‘if local governments in the country were doing well, the pressure on the states and at the federal level would not be there,” adding that that only people of proven integrity who have the development of their area uppermost in their minds should be elected into local government councils.”

The governor therefore asked other political appointees and top civil servants not to leave local government administrations solely in the hands of the elected chairmen saying that they should assist to monitor the activities of the chairmen to ensure they did not become “tin gods”.

He said, “It is our responsibility to go back and listen to the people. If things are good at the local government level, the states and federal government will look at other things.”

- Leadership

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