Oyo State Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters, Hon. Olusegun Olayiwola, has met with the chairmen of the 33 Local Government Areas of the state, who were recently sworn-in by the state governor, ‘Seyi Makinde.
Olayiwola, who met the chairmen at the Ministry, on Wednesday, charged them to be of good conduct and to serve their people with commitment and focus.
According to Olayiwola, Governor Makinde has in the last five years been running a people-oriented government and it is expected that the chairmen will follow the governor’s example by delivering the dividends of democracy to their respective councils.
He said: “We thank God for yet another opportunity to swear in a new set of 33 local government chairmen in Oyo State. You will recall that immediately after the governor assumed office; he conducted an election into the local government areas in the state and promptly swore them in at that time.
“At the expiration of the tenure of those chairmen, another election was conducted making it the second in the life of this administration and that election produced you. This had never happened before in the state.
“I assure you that by the grace of God, before the end of this administration, we will swear-in the third tranche of chairmen in this administration.
“So, we have come to welcome you, to give you tips and orient you on how to govern your local government areas. We have come to share our own experiences with you and make sure we put you on the right track before you move.
“I believe that with what we have done here, we are sure you would do your best to see to the development of your various LGs.”
Fielding questions from newsmen, the commissioner added that those who were re-elected would also be strategic in sharing experiences with the new chairmen, expressing the confidence that the chairmen would deliver development at their various councils.
“Out of the 33 chairmen in the last dispensation, only 12 were re-elected, while 21 did not return. Those who returned will share their experiences with their colleagues that are just coming in. And with the tips we have given them today, I believe the sky will be the limit for the developmental activities we will witness in this state during this tenure.
“I can also assure you that very soon, we will conduct an induction training for all of them. They will be lectured on how to carry out their responsibilities as they assume office,” he added.
Speaking earlier, the chairman of Egbeda Local Government, Hon. Sikiru Sanda, appreciated Governor Makinde for giving the newly-elected chairmen the opportunity to serve.
He stated that the inaugural meeting with the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters was speedy and charged the chairmen to be of good conduct, assuring residents of the state of more dividends of democracy.
According to Sanda, the present crop of council chairmen are ready, prepared, competent and ready to serve the people of their respective local governments.
Sanda said: “First, we want to give our appreciation to His Excellency, the Executive Governor of Oyo State, for giving us the opportunity to be sworn-in again as elected local government chairmen.
“Today is our inaugural meeting and the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters has charged us on the issue of conduct. I see this as a speedy commencement of the new administration as far as local government is concerned.
“So, we want to assure the good people of Oyo State to expect bigger dividends of democracy from all the local government chairmen, because I believe the crop of elected chairmen we have on board are ready to deliver. They are prepared for the job and would perform excellently well beyond the people’s expectations.
“Some of our colleagues could be new in office but not new as far as the administration of Governor Makinde is concerned. Many of them are from different endeavours ranging from public administration, commerce and all of that.
“All of them are competent and we don’t have any doubt they are going to perform well. Apart from that, there will be training and retraining and the Commissioner has assured us that there will be a 3-day induction shortly.”
