Ondo State Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu has blamed poor funding as reason for the delay in the creation of Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs).
The governor, who spoke yesterday while hosting the Jegun of Ile-Oluji, Oba Julius Oluwole Olufaderin Adetimehin, assured the citizens that he would create LCDAs before the end of his tenure.
He said it was an odd thing for some ancient towns to be merged with others as one local government.
Akeredolu said the process of LCDA creation was cumbersome, adding that it could be possible with availability of money to oil it.
He said: “In future, I want to give you an assurance that Ile-Oluji will become a local government. I have said it before; you can see the oddity in putting Ile-Oluji with Oke-Igbo. We are working on it.
“One of the issues dragging us back is finance. The process is cumbersome.
“In your own case, the local government headquarters is in Ile-Oluji. Oke-Igbo will have to put up a council secretariat, and all of these require money.”
The governor, who lamented the inability of his administration to pay full salary, said the state was broke.
Said he: “If we tell you we have money, we are lying. We came here, boasting that we wouldn’t owe salary. We weren’t owing, we were even paying arrears. But now, it is disheartening.” We are owing.
“Help us continue to appeal to our people. We don’t wish to owe salary. But there is no money. What we receive from the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) is what we use to pay these salaries.”
The Jegun of Ile-Oluji said they were on the visit to rejoice with and congratulate the governor and his deputy on their electoral victory at the Supreme Court.
“We are here to show gratitude to the governor and the deputy for the elevation and appointment of sons and daughter of Ile-oluji into positions in the government. Our joy knows no bound, as it is unprecedented in the annals of Ondo State civil service and Ile-Oluji history. We value this and say thank you.”
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