Economy
ENUGU State Commissioner for Local Government Matters, Chijioke Edoga says the state government has been prudent in the management of its financial resources.
Edoga said this on Monday during a town hall meeting between officials of the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related Offences Commission (ICPC) and residents of Oji River Local Government Area of the state.
According to him, the state government under the leadership of Gov Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi has cleared arrears of salaries owed local government workers in the state.
The commissioner said that the current administration in the state inherited millions of naira in outstanding salaries, pensions and gratuities of workers at the third tier of government.
He said that some council owed upwards of 14 months salaries to their workers, adding that with prudent management of resources all salary arrears had been settled.
Edoga said that the state government was taking seriously the anti corruption crusade of the Federal Government, adding that financial disbursements had been with utmost transparency.
He said that with the disposition of the state government towards workers, “the reasons for corruption must stop”.
In an address of welcome, the Deputy Chairman of the council, Mr Chukwudi Ezenwa, said that corruption among political office holders had continued due to excessive demands and pressure by those they represented.
Ezenwa said that it was worrisome that in spite of the anti corruption crusade by successive administrations no meaningful success had been made.
He said that it had become imperative for parents and guardians to take up the challenge of imbibing anti corruption culture in their wards.
Ezenwa also called on policy makers to enlist anti corruption studies in basic education curriculum.
Also, the traditional ruler of Isiana Awlaw in Oji River, Igwe Sam Uka said that a major step to curbing corruption was to increase salaries of public servants.
Uka said that majority of civil servants were wallowing in abject poverty, adding that it was difficult to resist financial temptations in such circumstances.
The monarch, who expressed worry that corruption in the country had taken a refined form, lauded efforts of the Federal Government in tackling sane.
“We should find a way to increase the income of Nigerians,” he said.
Earlier, the ICPC Zonal Commissioner, Mr Amedu Sule, said that the town hall meeting was organised to exchange ideas on how best to prosecute the fight against corruption.
Sule said that corruption was a major threat to the development of the country.
“The poor showing of Nigeria across all indices of development is due mainly to corruption and the brunt of such poor governance is borne mostly by citizens at the local level,” he said.
He said that the Freedom of Information Act had empowered those in the rural areas to demand information and accountability from their representatives in government.
“We believe that if the people at the grassroots practice integrity and demand it from the council officials, then there will be good governance,” Sule said.
11, 2018 @ 18:55 GMT |
Tags: Enugu Govt. prudent on financial resources- Commissioner
