Ogun government has said that progressive governance at the local council level is very essential to stimulating growth and development in the country.

The Permanent Secretary, Ogun State Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Dr. Rotimiolu Akinlesi, disclosed this at the July 2023 edition of the Joint Account Allocation Committee (JAAC) meeting, held at the Conference Hall, Oba’s Complex, Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta.

Akinlesi pointed out that the grassroots, which constitute a larger percentage of the population, deserves a better standard of living, saying the delivery of more dividends of democracy by the local councils would spur the people to contribute meaningfully to nation-building.

He urged the chairmen of the 20 local councils in the state not to rest on their oars but continue to uphold good governance by being prudent and transparent in their dealings aside from being agents of progress to further complement the state government’s efforts.

In his remarks, the Accountant-General of the state, Mr. Babatunde Aregbesola, revealed that for July 2023, the 20 local councils received N5, 626,343,231.09 as fund from Statutory Allocation Revenue, Value Added Tax (VAT), Exchange Difference, Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL) and Exchange Rate Differential.

Aregbesola stated that a total of N4, 497,940,852.41 would be deployed to pay the first-line charges, which include primary school teachers’ salaries, local council staff salaries and allowances, traditional councils, pensions, among others.