Governor of Anambra State, Professor Charles Soludo, has said local governments must employ and pay their staff for financial autonomy to be strictly implemented.
He also said the state government owed pensioners over N14 billion.
The governor stated this while inaugurating a nine-member committee for the state and local governments’ Joint Account and Allocation Committee (JAAC) on Monday.
“I hear people talk about autonomy. If you want to implement strict autonomy, it will mean that each local government will employ and pay its staff. That’s what it will mean but this is not the case. That’s why you find someone in Idemili working in Ayamelum and someone from Ayamelum working in Nnewi South because they have a pool system,” he said.
Soludo also stated that the government was going to employ over 4,000 teachers to rejig teaching and learning in the state.
The governor, who decried scarce resources in the state, asked the committee members to assist in finding solutions to the financial crisis in the government.
He pointed out that the infrastructure in the various local government areas, including those burnt down by arsonists, needed to be repaired to enable council staff to go to offices and perform optimally.
The committee is chaired by the state Commissioner for Local Government, TonyCollins Nwabunwanne, with the state Commissioner for Finance, Ifeatu Onejeme; and Dr Arinze Nwankwo-Ikwueto, as vice chairman and secretary, respectively.
Credit: The Nigeria Lawyers