Obasanjo Blasts Governors For ‘Stealing’ From Local Government
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo on Tuesday described the governors as the “greatest obstacles” hindering growth local governments in the country. Obasanjo who spoke at theInternational Conference on Politics, Security and Development held at Babcock University, Ilisan, accused state governors of stealing council funds under the pretext that they have done something for the councils or on their behalf. According to him, as soon as the Local Government Allocations were released from the Federal allocation, the government simply deduct from the source, whatever amount they claimed were spent on behalf of the Local Governments. He recalled that he initiated Local Governments reforms in 1976 to make the LGs autonomous, functional and developmental, lamented that once such money were illegally deducted by governors, no LG chairman dare questioned or challenged such illegality. Reading from his keynote address, the former President said good lead...