Bayelsa saved N300m from LG reforms – Commissioner

The Bayelsa State Government has said the ongoing reforms at the local government tier has reduced the monthly wage bill of the eight council areas in the state by N300 million. The state Commissioner for Local Government Administration, Dr. Agatha Goma, stated this on Friday at the ongoing inter-ministerial briefing to mark the sixth anniversary […]

The Bayelsa State Government has said the ongoing reforms at the local government tier has reduced the monthly wage bill of the eight council areas in the state by N300 million.

The state Commissioner for Local Government Administration, Dr. Agatha Goma, stated this on Friday at the ongoing inter-ministerial briefing to mark the sixth anniversary of the Seriake Dickson administration.

She noted that the administration had introduced fiscal discipline and set up procedures on prudent management of public funds at the local government level.

The commissioner said the reforms were in tackling wastage in the system and that they would be pursued to a logical conclusion

Goma observed that lack of supervision of the local government system had resulted in uncontrolled recruitment of personnel without audit thereby leading to over-bloated wage bill.

She said the dwindling allocation to the local government tier during the economic recession caused distress in the system resulting in insufficient funds to pay salaries.

“We got into office and discovered that the wage bill of the local governments across the state was in excess of N1.4bn at such a time that the total revenue accruing to the councils was about N600m.

“We took steps to check the excesses, which are yielding results.

“As at December 2015, the wage bill dropped from over N1.4bn to N1.38bn in April 2016, it further dropped to N1.22bn and currently it stands at N1.18bn.

“We have changed the narrative such that the funds freed are being channelled to development at the grassroots, and today there are numerous ambitious projects dotted across the state undertaken by the local governments,” Goma said. (NAN)