Hon. Alhaji Dayyabu Yusuf Garga, is the commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs in Plateau State. In this exclusively interview with The Dream Daily Correspondent ASILE EMMANUEL, Garga enumerated some of the administrative challenges being faced by Governor Lalong and why local government elections cannot be conducted in the state at the moment.
Excerpts:
Q. Sir, recently there has been this public concern that in spite of the fact that government complains of lack of money, yet you keep seeing local government chairmen moving in flashy cars, which are also seen parked in Government House. How can you explain this?
A. There has been insinuated in some quarters that these vehicles were bought by the present administration, But the truth of the matter is that this government did not buy these vehicles. The last administration ordered for them but did not pay for them. What the present government with them is safe keeping. This government doesn’t have funds to buy these vehicles now. Even the ones the government gave to the commissioners, they are not yet paid for.
Q. How about the ones given to the local government chairmen?
A. I am not aware if vehicles have been given to the local government chairmen. But what I do know is that they inherited them from their predecessors. So in effect whatever is on ground now is that as we are always complaining of dwindling allocation that cannot even pay salaries. How can the government go ahead and start buying vehicles when there is no money, but am sure since the former government bought them and the present government wants to use them, I think it is appropriate.
Q. Sir, the people at the grassroots have been complaining of non-performance of transition committee constituted to man local administrations in the state and government keeps extend their tenure without elections being held. What is the problem?
A. The issue of local government election is of course the function of resources, once the funds are available there will be no reason why the local government elections will not be conducted, even if it is next week. I’m sure you are aware that the Plateau State Independent Electoral Commission (PLASIEC) has not been constituted. Once the funds are available, it is the duty of the chief executive to say okay, constitute PLASIEC, give us guide lines on how we can conduct a credible local government election. So I’m sure that as soon as allocation from the Federation Accounts and the internally generated revenue improve, election will be conducted.
Again, these transition committees are on ad hoc bases. The list came from the party, where elder from each local government sent their nominations and the governor sat with stakeholders to appoint them as the chairman. Out of the three or five names submitted, you know that not all of them will be appointed as chairman.
So if people are complaining, yes of course we are in a democracy, where they say the majority will have their way and the minority will have their say. So we are bound to have such disagreements, but at the end of the day the needful will be done and people will be happy about it. I don’t want to pre-empt the government but I can tell you that the government would want to conduct local government elections as soon as it is practicable. So, as I said earlier the practicability of it of course is the availability of fund, you can’t go conducting local government elections without money because elections are costly, and if you go round the federation you will find out that it is not only Plateau that has not conducted local government election. Many states have not done so due financial difficulties affecting the three tiers of government in the country.
Q. Currently, the state faces an upheaval over the creation of Districts and Chiefdoms for alleged attempt by the governor to mortgage land to perceived visitors, how do you intend to handle this matter in such a manner that it wouldn’t cause chaos?
A. Well, this was a committee that was set up by the governor himself to review the exercise that was conducted previously. You remember Waklek Committee? It was not set up by this government and they submitted report. So this government only set up this committee to only review that report. So if there are further agitations government will not ask you to go and write a memo requesting for district or that, so it is when you see your viability that you need it, that is when government will ensure that it gives the people what they want. So if the people know that they don’t have a land for district why should they request for it?
And the committee are also Plateau people; they are from Niger, they are all from plateau. They know who and who needs what, and they know whether they deserve it or not, and after submitting their report the government will now set up a white paper committee to further review what they have done before it will finally be approved or disapproved because the governor has the final say on the matter.
Q. Finally sir, of recent there were speculations that the government imposed a mandatory task on local governments amounting to hundreds of millions for the celebration of Christmas, and that the said amount would be deducted from the state and local governments joint account. How true is this?
A. Well, this is just an imagination from the purported writer of that report. There is no iota of truth in that report. We have investigated and we found out that there is no truth in that report. Go and ask the local government themselves if anybody has deducted any kobo from their money. So that allegation is just baseless and antics of mischief writers. But if they have evidence they should go ahead and publish it to show that the deductions were actually carried out.
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