Following claims by the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON), Abia State chapter, that local governments in the state receive their monthly allocations without interference, a concerned Abian Chima Okorie has challenged the Mayor of Bende Local Government Area to account for his stewardship in office.
Okorie, questioned the performance of the council chairman after 13 months in office, insisting that there is little or no visible impact of governance in the area despite regular funding.
Reacting to ALGON’s assertion that local government allocations are received in full, he stated that Bende Local Government receives an average of about ₦600 million monthly.
He queried what projects or developments justify such inflows within the period under review.
In his words: “Bende Local Government receives about ₦600 million on average every month. The question is: where are the commensurate projects to show for these funds after 32 months of Governor Otti Administration? Okorie asked. Bende has received over N19 billion since May 29th, 2023.
He lamented what he described as the poor state of infrastructure in public schools, the absence of basic medical equipment in most primary healthcare centres, and an overall lack of effective governance across the local government area.
According to him, the situation cuts across the entire local government. “Bende has 13 wards, yet there is no ward where the impact of local government administration can be clearly felt, even when the Mayor claims he receives allocations without any hindrance,” he said.
He, therefore, called on the Mayor of Bende Local Government Area, Uwabunkonye Bassey, to publicly explain how funds accrued to the council have been utilized in the interest of transparency and accountability.
He assured that they will be forced to petition regulatory agencies, EFCC , ICPC to urgently investigate the allocations of Bende Local Government, especially as the Chairman acknowledged unhindered access to the entire funds of the local Government from the Abia state Government.
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