Council Chairmen May Inaugurate EXCO This Month

…Chairmen to choose SLGs

By Abolaji Adebayo 

The  waiting game for the inauguration of councils’ cabinets in Lagos State may soon be over as  there are indications that the list will be ratified by the state governor any time from now.

Eight months after their swearing-in, none of the 57 Local Governments (LGs) and Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) Chairmen in Lagos State has inaugurated its cabinet, the lists have been delayed due to some factors as reported by ECHONEWS.

Statutorily, the council chairmen are expected to constitute their cabinets within three months of their assumption of office after the list would have been ratified by the Ministry of Local Government and Community Affairs. According to the administrative guidelines, the offices to be occupied in the cabinet include the Secretary to the Local Government, Supervisors for Works, Education, Health, Environment, Agriculture and special advisers on revenue and boundary matters.

Initially, the lists of the cabinet members were expected to be released to commemorate the chairmen’s 100 Days in office. However, the hope was dashed as none of the council announced its cabinet – the lists were not released by the state government.

According to the norm, the list of each local council has to be submitted to the state government for ratification which was done by many of them though it was gathered that few of them could not submit theirs due to leadership tussles in the council areas.

It was gathered that the delay in the submission of the list by some local councils delayed the ratification of the lists by the state governor.

ECHONEWS reported in January that there were some factors delaying the constitution of local council executive cabinets across the state.

First, it was gathered that the delay was due to the fact that some of the elected council chairmen were new in the system and needed to be familiar with the system before making any political appointment.

Again, those council chairmen who were returned for their second term in office were expected to pay the severance payments to those who worked with them as cabinet members during their first administration. They were asked to settle them within two months before constituting new cabinets.

The returned council bosses had pleaded with the state governor to give them some time to settle the payment and the Governing Advisory Council (GAC) gave them 100 days to pay the severance of their former cabinet members and constitute new ones.

Another factor that is further delaying the lists in some local council areas is caused by party stakeholders as the chairman has to properly consult the party leaders to come up with the list.

ECHONEWS gathered that in some local governments, the lists were delayed due to party leadership tussles over the selection of candidates but it was gathered that the council chairmen were given the power to produce SLG.

Sources in some LGs said the chairmen were waiting for February JAAC to pay the severance of their former cabinet members before inaugurating the new ones. However, a former Secretary to the Local Government (SLG) told ECHONEWS that all local councils have paid the severance to their former cabinet members.

As gathered by ECHONEWS, Conference 57 offered each former councillor a sum of N1.4million as compensation and is to be paid by all the local council chairmen before June, this year.

Another source claimed that they are planning the inauguration of a new cabinet to commemorate their one year in office.

Meanwhile, sources close to the state government told ECHONEWS that the governor was initially waiting till after the APC convention earlier scheduled to hold in February before approving the lists, saying since the convention could not hold in February any longer, hopefully, the lists will be released after the convention this March.

The sources said every local government has submitted its lists, adding that the lists are with the executive of the APC party at the state level.

The lists, as gathered, would be forwarded to the governor immediately after the party’s convention for ratification and the cabinets might be inaugurated this month.

According to a source at the APC state level, hopefully, “the cabinets in all local councils will be inaugurated this month as the lists have been perfected, only waiting for the governor’s ratification.”