Pastor Umo Eno says the Supreme Court ruling granting financial autonomy to Local Government Areas in the country has come as a big relief to the state government.
Speaking with newsmen at Obong Victor Attah International Airport on arrival from a trip to Europe, the governor said his administration has not touched local government funds since coming on board.
He however expressed concerns over its effective implementation and the ability of Local Government Areas to handle their financial responsibilities like payment of Primary School Teachers, Local Government Employees which has been the responsibility of the state government over the years.
“The present state government has channelled volumes of funds into offsetting arrears of gratuities, pensions, salaries and other entitlements to Local Government workers, the autonomy granted the third tier of government is a relief to the state government”
The governor also said the ARISE Agenda economic blueprint of Akwa Ibom state government is focused on developing the rural areas which fall within the domain of the Local Government Areas.
“Our ARISE Agenda is also centered around developing the local government areas, so with this judgement, I feel relieved but my concern is who will bear the brunt of the autonomy.”
He noted that the judgement will not have any negative impact on the Akwa Ibom State Government stressing that, so far, under his administration and even in previous administrations, Local Government Areas have been getting their due allocations, without any interference with the operations of the joint account.
He expressed hope that local governments, under the new arrangement, would take over the responsibility of payment of salary and other emoluments to teachers, health workers and other workers to avoid leaving unnecessary burden of arrears to successive governments.
The Governor noted that the Supreme Court verdict on local government autonomy remains sacrosanct, being the pronouncement of the final court in the land.
In his words: The Supreme Court has made pronouncements. That’s the final court of the land, but for us in Akwa Ibom, honestly I don’t see us having any issue. For me, this is a welcome development because I know how much we, as a state, supports the Local Government.
“Since I assumed office, I’ve not touched any funds allocated to the Local Government. The only challenge I envisage now, which we have to sit down and find a way around is how the local government workers would be paid promptly? How will primary school teachers be paid promptly? How do we clear the backlog that we have? I pray that we find a way around this.
