From Scholastica Hir, Makurdi
The Special Adviser to Benue state Governor Hyacinth Alia on Bureau for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Dr Dennis Akura, has disclosed that the bureau inherited over N10 billion as judgement and garnishee debts for local governments.
Akura stated this on Friday while speaking with newsmen in his office, said the debts has put a heavy burden on the finance of the local governments who are working hard to clear the debts.
He stated that to ensure a seamless process, a committee on Garnishee and Judgement debts were constituted and housed in the Ministry of Justice and Public Order, while the Bureau has also overhauled the legal departments in all the 23 local government areas of the State to ensure that every LG has a lawyer from the ministry of Justice to enable them take up legal issues that emanate from those areas.
The Special Adviser noted that the Alia government would be grounded if the Garnishee and Judgement debt team was not established. “What we have done now is to ensure we have a functional legal units in the LGAs to ensure that these embarrassments do not occur again.”
He said, “When I came in, the marching order I got from Governor Hyacinth Alia is that he wants a Local Government system that will work and positively impact the lives of the rural dwellers.
“And one of the issues I met was that of garnishee orders and judgement debt. The Local Government system was owing about N10 billion as judgment debt and we had a lot of garnishee orders.
“It was a very big challenge that could hurt the administration. So Governor Alia directed that a garnishee and judgement debt committee be formed. The committee is housed in the Ministry of Justice and Public Order.
“It is made up of government lawyers as well as lawyers who had judgements against the state and local governments.
“It was discovered that most times the Local Governments do not put up appearances in court in Local Government cases.
“And for that reason judgments were always entered against them. So we have overhauled the legal departments of the local government to ensure that every local government has a sound legal department.
“What this implies is that the Ministry of Justice will draft lawyers to every local government to run the daily affairs of the legal departments. This we have done in trying to check and also reduce incidents of judgments entered against the local governments system in the state.”
He stressed the desire of his office, as coordinating and supervising agency, to ensure that the local government system in the state function effectively, adding that the focus is to enhance rural transformation especially in the provision of access roads for the rural dwellers to evacuate the produce as well as security agencies to respond swiftly to crime issues.
“It is worthy to note that LG in the State have been granted quasi autonomy. Hitherto, only Director General Services and Administration, DGSAs and Treasurers knew the allocation that accrued to the LGs. But now the Chairmen also know what comes into their LG because they are also signatories.
“Imprest and overheads were not paid. HODs in local governments were shortchanged under the previous administration. There were no books of accounts and departmental receipts. There was no monitoring. There ere a lot of accumulated claims to traditional rulers which we have paid.
“As part of the autonomy to the LGs, the are making plans to secure security vehicles for Police. So, I wonder when people say that I embezzled N20 billion from June 2023 when I only resumed office in October 2023.
“It also beat my imagination that the petition is coming two days after the judicial Commission of Inquiries were constituted by the Alia’s administration to probe his predecessor. The Governor is determined to look into the books and expose fraud under the last administration and we will not be intimidated”, he said.