Anambra 2016 Budget: whither The 21 Local Government Councils’ Budgets? By Polycarp Onwubiko

Good governance is a desideratum for the executive and legislative arms of government as it epitomizes transparency, accountability, strict observation of laws, being circumspect and avoiding taking certain things for granted and commitment to the yearnings and aspirations of the people.
The executive and legislative arms of government in Anambra state lack in institutional credibility; this explained lack of good governance. The legislature has lent itself as rubber stamp right from the tenure of the former governor.

Such demeaning posturing has led to the approval of ten billion naira loan to the Governor for the supposed development of infrastructure; such a thing was unheard of since the creation of Anambra state in 1992.

One had expected the Governor to obtain the bail-out fund like other states to pay the pension arrears from May 2011, when the current minimum wage was signed into law.
Pensioners have been appealing to the former Governor to harmonize the pension according to the law but he ignored them. Rather, he directed the Head of Service to conduct verification exercise to weed out ghost pensioners. It was done in 2012 and again in 2013. When Governor Willy Obiano took over, he ignored the exercise and called for fresh one in October, 2014. Delay tactics was employed which made it to last for six months instead of one month; yet he refused to do the harmonization. Permanent Secretaries receive N30, 000.00 as pension while those who retired in May 2011 are paid over N120, 000.00; other pensioners receive ridiculous amounts and are wallowing in privations and agony yet the governor has refused to harmonize the meager amount to be meaningful. 
Due to impunity in governance in Nigeria, the Governor has brazenly ordered for another round of pension verification to commence in February 2016, which may take up to six months! The House of Assembly has been petitioned over the blatant insult to the senior citizens but as boot-lickers and sycophants, they looked the other way instead of living up to their constitutional duties and responsibilities of checks and balances. The Hon. Speaker [like her predecessor] should refrain from encomiums on the Governor so as to maintain the institutional integrity of the legislature conscious of checks and balances.
The highlighted sources of the revenues in the 2016 budget did not indicate the usual hijacking of the monthly statutory revenue allocations to the 21 local government councils [LGCs] since year 2006. Due to the induced institutional debility, the Anambra State Independent Electoral Commission [ANSIEC] brazenly indulged in electoral sleaze and returned APGA candidates to manage the 21local government councils. Nnewi North LGA was convincingly won by Labour Party but the electoral body brazenly refused to allow the winner to occupy the seat. The leadership of the Labour Party compromised its integrity and withdrew the case from the election tribunal as the corrupt PDP presidency allegedly settled the leader; courtesy of the former Governor who supposedly helped the PDP presidential aspirant to campaign in Anambra state.
The deft manipulation was to prevent the opposing political party from raising objection that would prevent the in-coming Governor from making ducks and drakes with LG funds. The chairmen were never allowed to have the LG monthly allocations. They chairmen allegedly are compelled to sign documents indicating that they collected the monthly allocations [which is not less than N120 millions per LGCs as published in the newspaper by the federal ministry of finance].  Rather they are given certain amount for security vote and sundry allowances/ staff claims. They do not award contracts to execute projects in the communities. They apply to the Governor through the commissioner for local government for approval to do minor things like repairing doors and windows. Petty suppliers suffer as it takes over two years to settle their bills. The frustrations make the chairmen to go to their offices once in a month; and all the LGCs appear like secondary schools on vacation; even as the premises are unkempt and over-grown with grasses.
 The horrendous and monstrous illegalities occur in 21 out of 36 states and are being over-looked by the EFCC. The fact is that EFFCC appears to be suffering from institutional debility. If the anti-graft agency would resolve to do its job, those who signed that they collected monthly allocations falsely should show the projects they expended the funds.
During Dr. Chinwoke Mbadinuju administration, LGCs got their monthly statutory allocations and prepared annual budgets and submitted to the Office of the Deputy Governor [ODG] for vetting and approval by the governor. The ODG monitors the implementation of the projects. This system has to be reinvented so as to keep the Deputy Governor productive; and the ministry of local govt. should be domiciled in the ODG. Due to absence of good governance at the state level, there was lax in monitoring the operatives in the LGCs which occasioned lack of meaningful infrastructural facilities and amenities in the 177 communities. Saddened by the abuse of trust, Governor Chris Ngige began to reorganize the LGCs but could not realize the lofty dream before he was removed by the election tribunal.
Since Governor Wiily Obiano did not list local government monthly statutory allocations and IGR as sources of revenues in the 2016 appropriation bill, he should direct the LGCs to prepare their 2016 budgets and submit to the office of the Deputy Governor for vetting and approval by the Governor. Since the tenure of the chairmen expires in December, there should be election. However if fund is a constraint, the Governor should appeal to other political parties to appoint Caretaker Committees inclusive of their members. He should abolish the State/Local Govt. Joint Account like his counterpart in Ebonyi and Enugu states. To avoid previous ugly stories of not meeting the financial obligations to the primary school teachers, the ODGs should remove the salaries, pensions and sundry allowances of teachers before handing over the allocations to the LGCs.
It is high time when the 177 communities in Anambra state should demand that the LGCs statutory allocations should be left with them since the funds belong to the 177 communities and not the Governor. It is lamentable that roads in all the communities are impassable, even as some communities have been cut off. What really could be called ‘Christmas gift’ of N1Million by the former Governor and N1.5 million by Governor Obiano to the Presidents General of town unions since 2006 for the so-called palliative work on roads every December, have been a monumental wastes. If N1million x 177 communities for 7 years since 2006; and NI.5 million x 177 communities in 2014 were given to the managers of the LGCs, over50% of the roads in the 177 communities would have been tarred. The Christmas gift and N500, 000.00 to the traditional rulers for the supposed security [when state government pays the vigilantes] were political gimmicks to close their mouths against impunity in governance.
Governor Willy Obiano should factor good governance in his administration and bear in mind that he will be judged by the way he utilized the state statutory allocations; he should desist from obtaining loans, except for establishment of viable industries to create employment. He should not copy his predecessor’s illegalities to record the supposed “marvelous developmental achievements”. Anambra people would believe that the promise to rebuild the Mosque allegedly partly damaged during IPOB demonstrations at Onitsha was superficial because hundreds of churches destroyed by Moslem fanatics in the north were never rebuilt by their governors. He should prevail on the Commissioner of Police whose predecessor arbitrarily closed a lane in the Zik’s avenue reconstructed with billions of state fund to re-open it to commercial vehicles to prevent accidents at the junction between Nibo/Awka south LG headquarters. Traffic miasma would be chaotic this Christmas period at this area. There was never a treat of Boko Haram which prompted the police commissioner to close the lane and the pedestrian way is used by the police as parking lot. It is sad that such impunity has been going on while prominent persons in Anambra state fill unconcerned.

Mr. Onwubiko, and Author and public affairs commentator, wrote via [email protected], Awka Anambra state