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From Uchenna Inya, Abakaliki
The Ebonyi State Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters, Uchenna Igwe, has said that governor Francis Nwifuru granted financial autonomy to the local government areas in the state over a year before the Supreme Court ruling of July 11, 2024 on local government autonomy.
He stated this in Abakaliki, the state capital, during the swearing-in of the newly elected council chairmen in the state. He said under the governor ‘s administration, all government projects and programmes are derived from the verified needs of the ordinary citizens of Ebonyi State.
His Excellency, the governor has given Ebonyi people a balanced diet of good governance with proportionate ingredients of both infrastructure and “manfrasture” or welfare and human capital development.
“Governor Nwifuru was among the first governors to release wage awards and increase workers’ salaries in Nigeria. He lifted the embargo on employment and employed thousands of teachers and health workers across the 13 LGA.
“With the payment of arrears of gratuities to Ebonyi local government staff, retirement is no longer a death sentence to Ebonyi retirees. Supported by the completely transformed rural health sector, our retirees now gracefully enjoy their full life span in the new Ebonyi State made possible by the governor.
“Through the return of overseas and local postgraduate scholarship programmes, the Francis of Ebonyi State has given ordinary Ebonyians across the 13 LGA access to premium self-development.
“Ebonyi rural youths now outshine their mates in global intellectual and tech competitions. Under Governor Francis Nwifuru, Ebonyi State has become the most secure and peaceful state in Nigeria.
“Through the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters, Governor Nwifuru’s midas touch is at work across all the LGA in Ebonyi State.
“It is heartwarming to note that Governor Nwifuru granted financial autonomy to the local government areas in Ebonyi State for over a year before the Supreme Court ruling of July 11, 2024”, Igwe stated.
The commissioner disclosed that the current administration in the state inherited a local government system fraught with traditional stool conflicts and town union crises.
“In fact, only 67 communities representing 48% of the communities in Ebonyi State had traditional rulers in 2023. Governor Nwifuru turned the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters into an instrument of peace.
“The ministry has resolved all the traditional stool conflicts and community leadership disputes. Fifteen new communities have been created by the governor. This was followed by full democratisation of both the traditional stool and town union leadership recruitment processes, moving them away from imposition and crisis.
“Today, traditional rulers and town union leaders have been successfully elected and inaugurated in over 80 communities, including those of high stake Emezaka, Nkomoro, Okpoto, Obegu, Ekwashi, Amoffia Ngbo, Alioma, and Okue. These communities sit together in peace, rebuilding trust, and focusing on shared growth”, he said
