Jigawa Governor Reads Riot Acts To LG Chairmen

By Mohammed Abubakar Dutse

The Jigawa State Government has admonished the recently elected 27 local government council chairmen in the state to key into the state government reform agenda or be left behind.

The state governor, Umar Namadi, who gave the warning while addressing a one-day retreat organized for them by the Local Government Service Commission, (LGSC) to keep them abreast with the modern administrative techniques, said that the Supreme Court judgment on LG autonomy had placed a lot of expectations on the councils as the third tier of government.

The retreat was in compliance with the governor’s directive to the commission last week Monday during the inauguration of the council chairmen as part of the moved to re-orient the new local council executives.

Represented by his deputy, Aminu Usman Gumel, an engineer, the governor described the timing of the retreat as timely, taking into consideration, the ever changing dynamics of the administration at their grassroots, which calls for constant knowledge updating.

According to the governor, the state places emphasis on training of public servants in order to bring them up to date with the realities, challenging the chairmen to do similar thing at their respective respective councils.

He therefore, assured that the training would be a continuous process as their would updated from time to time for both civil and public servants in the state.

Chairman of the commission, Uba Bala Ringim, a retired Deputy Inspector-General of Police, (DIG), said the workshop was to equip participants with modern skills of separation of powers, collective responsibilities and grater awareness of financial appropriation in local government administration.

The state commissioner for local government, Ahmed Garba Maikudi called on the chairmen to make loyalty, accountability, patience and tolerance, their watchwords while discharging their responsibilities at their respective councils.

Being the closest to the people at the grassroots level, the commissioner said they should relate with the electorate with a view to assisting government to achieve it’s objectives.

Stressing the need for accountability, Maikudi said, “You know our principal is an accountant, therefore, you should make a accountability your watchwords while discharging your responsibility by not being wasteful.

‘You can be rest assured that if you keep these terms in the next three years, you’ll be nominated and voted back to your offices,” reminding them to avoid the repetition of the mistakes of the experiences of the immediate past council chiefs, who were suspended from offices on allegations of misappropriation.”

The state Chairman of the Association of Local Government of Nigeria, (ALGON), Prof. Salim Abdulsalam pledged on behalf of the council chairmen their determination to adhere to the rules governing the administration of local government.