 Thank you for staying with us. You're still watching the breakfast on plus TV Africa. It's time for our hot topic And now we're talking about the nine point five six trillion narrow allocation in five years to 774 local government areas still being underdeveloped I'm sure as we all know we black basic health care. We lack basic infrastructure in most of these local government areas and There's been an increase in the post-subsidium regime with at least about nine point five six trillion Naira allocated to this local government Areas, however was to seeing the lack in the development in this areas But joining us to explain all of this and give us this well valuable Contributions we have dr. Ibrahim was in our an enterprise and investment risk expert. He's on the phone with us this morning Good morning, sir. Thank you for joining the program Thank you for having me. Thank you Okay, so let's get right into it. We're talking about 774 local government areas in Nigeria and this is a size the CD is that we have About nine point five six trillion has been allocated to these areas But we're still seeing the under development in all of this place. What is you know, the inside? What have you seen so far the overview? So far in this areas Is it true by proxy or through the constitutional position these are the areas we didn't look at Not about the funding right if you have funding what is now a structure and at the end of the day, I can assure you that If you look at the look at government structure in the day Democratic A job not adjusted down and appoint people into local government area Is a chef in the kitchen the cleaner you can make them look at government chairman Irrespecting for people's feelings of choice and at the end of the day this morning we are talking about goes into Talk passes and claims to be chairman in court Some of the elections held virtually If you are in a party a Are you a little bit? I cannot show you that most of the local government Will be appointed not elected appointed by the government and the capital. So anybody coming from a budget It's not a fact or yet It's going to talk about it. I The framework the liquid framework the constitutional framework established in local government. It's not there So what we need to look not to talk about the point is to structure Get into offices in local money It should hold office owner account Like the process of you know electing people there, you know the transfer rate be independent Then we can talk about the point if you continue with this mode of funding local money I can tell you that we're just ordinary, you know Sponsoring an elephant white elephant project. So it's not going to work. Okay, so if you look at it Yeah, go ahead. You look at it Of course a lot of funds that are through the local government Due to you know You Look But still the effect is not it the local government By some Who's this look at me? Who's this look at me phone as the calling file where they have found their family? They are boyfriend and girlfriend, you know Expect so they've seen look at me that you can have been buried on that book. So we need to look at Okay, so 7.56 trillion that is a lot of money, right seven point. Yes. Yes seven points five six trillion narrow That's a lot of money Where is all of this money is going to if we still lack the basic education that the health care facilities? The roads the social infrastructure that we need or that there's local government areas need How is this even accountable? Where is the money going to at the moment? And why can't we see how the monies are being spent? Oh They will do your family They will call family They will pay for streets. They will collect people I say they will collect money for cannot enter most of the people I jack all this function from the local government And none of these Local government chairman can say anything if I before some of them get into office They are must have signed their check Once you collect your jack from fellow government monthly, this is this is their most that is coming. This is best This is their most that is coming to express So all these monies we are talking about nine point nine point five trillion are put in in five years Go into top 45th party and The local government who are the government the semi-government local government who are to provide all this amount Who are to do this shortly use this form we're talking about for the betterment of the primary and who's constituency We know they will not be able to do all this because the first That also have been used Something about a big cycle and In fact by their point of Who put them So So we need to look at structure Change the Electoral process a point in order to make chairman and chancellor from the state got no Take it from them I mean with that let's work because The national independent independent electoral commission for look out of me. So that will not Strain late So you need to look at the framework Most stop a point in local government chairman So that anybody that you are in the state who all of them are But when I have fun, I don't ask you my dear so to come I'm not a gov. Come and be local government Academic qualification Some are still a good book that point it is all driver who is absolutely a I don't want to use some a Hold man of almost about 70 years a 65 year was a point in I said look at moment chairman This guy will only be a couple of months. He's got those go back on that. What do I do with this one? Do this one? Do this one? So where is the primary official? Where is the inner road? Where is the primary health center? We are the street life my Conficient doctor my confession doctor This woman Try go to any part of the world I travel you travel a lot if you can imagine what work It's making it in charge of all the customer building is the child of Confusion is the type of transport management within the Borough, within the castle in Eklah. Now, Doctor. Tell all these doctors trouble. Just a moment, Doctor. My confusion is in 2020, the president then, Muhammad Buhari, signed an executive order, I think in May 2020, executive order granting financial autonomy to local governments. And he asked the accountant general to deduct from source the money accruable to local governments so that it doesn't have to go through the state accounts again. So why are we still talking about joint accounts with the state governments at this time in 2023? What went wrong? Let me take you back to 2000. Well, general, I'm sure before that, if you are aware, if you can go back to history, well, general, most of the local government takes the phone directly, there's no joint account allocation, you know. But because President Buhari wants the government to back Buhari, what's going on? If the local government, you know, especially in the country, if you call the government, okay, please, you guys, once this money is coming through, I can be paying this to this account and this account. If they are from river states, for instance, you have to the clean local government and pay your own jack, your bank, and then pay your local government jack that joint account to your state. They use this to book so that the federal government can focus on other areas of national policy, defense, foreign policy. Those, these are the ten minute sections of general backdoor. So that the local government and funding can be, you know, within the same government so that effort and distribution can go on. But at the end of the day, you don't realize that it's another sort of remedy for themselves. So they can, forcefully, put the contingent on the local government administration. Now, what I would suggest is that this account can be scratched. Let us personally look at the electoral process. However, if I'm elected after the Labour Party, local government, chairman in county state, and the government is indicating, if my money is coming, I don't give me my money. I will go to the federal high court because of a bill to challenge the government because I'm elected by the people. You know, you are not appointed. I will go to the federal high court to speak up to the federal local government. What general party said that it was nothing is to want it to come up with a bridge. But if you look at it, it is the president. He said that to stop this, to amaze the law. He refused half of the house of assembly to support that constitutional amendment, to empower local government, to transfer the power to IME. They depended it for the city state to support that amendment of the constitution. But they rejected it. He went there to not get it. So when he told the NFIA to freeze most of their accounts and pay directly, most of them, they wouldn't let them pay directly to all the local government chairman. We like to call all the local government chairman how much is the money there. The next money you will not see the house of assembly or the council of. We move it in the chairman. Look at the state for instance, majestic. The local government chairman. He is calling for it. He told the government that he will not see and have yet. I have never received so, so, so, so, so, so, so. You know what happened my dear brother? It was the most. The guy said I could not provide good type of water. I could not provide just a family aid center. I could not provide street light for my people. I have the system elected chairman. I could not do that. The rest of it is that he was before that. So hearing you, hearing you speak now. Okay. Okay, sir. So hearing you speak now, are you saying that those monies are being possibly siphoned from the top? Because it's not, it's not trickling down to the local government areas. So what are you saying? How are the monies being taken out if this chairman cannot even provide pipe bond water or primary health care centers? Yeah. So what's, what's happening? Because you'll expect that even if the state is taking it, it should, it should still work for the state. It should show in these local governments, if not the local government it was meant to be. Let's see it and another thing. So if the state is using its own funds to run the state and to do the infrastructure that they're doing, what are they using the local government money to do? Do you know that some of these governments, not these present governments, as it gets in 2003, 2007, some of these governments use the local government to do most of the state projects. Some of them look from commercial and use the local government to take a collateral. Some of them, most of them, not some of them, most, virtually all of them. That is where most people are, some of them are getting whiter, they talk them and their point, what they call the local government. So you can imagine most of the funds. I'll just give you an example of a state now. For instance, it seems to state the government, most of the government needs to conduct elections. Okay. Some of them are handled by broadband. We've suggested that most of the people are boroughs in England, United States and Canada. Some of them have the portfolio, investment portfolio of insurance policy, you know, housing policy of two, nine, four billion dollars a borough, by local government. Why? And why is the investment different? Why can't the local government be elected by the people and make them accountable for the money you can call the local government to invest in the investment portfolio? We would expect them to be elected because I know they run elections. They're the elections for the local government, chairmen. Yeah. At least they are supposed to. It's not supposed to come by appointment. They're supposed to be elected for this. But before we wrap it up quickly, because at least a bit out of time, you talked about structure. What are some key structures that you think that needs to be put in place for us to, you know, ensure that in the next five years we're not still facing this same thing that we're going through right now. We're not in the same situation. What are some structures that you want to highlight for people to get in and understand and then imbibe into these local government areas? Thank you so much. The first thing is the law. I am calling on the National Assembly to reignite the local government election administration. Number one, to take the power of election local government time out from the state government. All the elected local government chairmen, office and councillors conducted by the National. Number two, once it starts, it will trickle down. People who start to elect into office is not appointing them. You just mentioned, your colleagues just mentioned there's an election in local government in Nigeria. You and I know that there's no elected local government in Nigeria. Somebody who speaks in a hotel and writes a figure, a resource, and tell you that it's an election. You can become a local government chairman tomorrow, I will not be surprised. The governor will just call you and say, I think I mean this with your face. And they will call you. A local government that you are you know, so the law needs to be threatening. This object has to be directly from the governor to call it directly. But I can't do it. And you take the power of election local government chairmen. From there, call it up. Labour Party can win this local government. It's Victoria Island. Anybody can win this local government. But not that the governor will sit down and write a list of local government chairmen who will just call a shadow election and somebody will sit down and write a list that this is the person. I'm a local government election, I'm a local government election and this thing in this country will sit down and write a list that this is the person. I'm a local government chairman who will control this something or who we have accepted that this can never be done. Unless your governor that you are from the past so we need to start from that base. In fact, just have to send the electorate take the power away from him put it on high neck, high neck to set this up. We can start from there. Without that I can say you will come back to this story the next five years. Which is going to be at that point. Thank you so much. Thank you for joining us. We wish we had more time to go in depth on this. Sadly we need to wrap it up right now on this segment. Thank you so much for joining us and your valuable contributions. Thank you. We've been talking to Dr. Ibrahim which is an enterprise and investment risk expert and we've just been talking about the local government having about 9.56 trillion in five years allocation. However, these local government seems underdeveloped but we're hoping that things will get better and in the next one. They are underdeveloped. I know a situation where sometimes they say we're giving you five million Naira to a local government chairman. You sign for five million Naira and you end up getting maybe 1.5 or 1 million Naira. I've seen this. I know for a fact that it happens. So even when they say the money is coming to you, you get pittance for the humongous amount that is being called that you are getting and you sign it. I don't know whether it's a cult or something that they do. I don't know. But also I'm wondering, he said something about making sure that the elections take place. We have a sitting governor who is elected in a state that is being dictated to by a godfather and he... I mean that's the happening right here in Riverside. So whether there is election or no election, mindsets have to change. There needs to be that paradigm shift. Even if you bought a form for me, it doesn't mean if you marry a wife for me, you will have to be the one who... Okay, that's what we're going to wrap it up on today's show. It's been amazing and having you there just watching us and listening and getting all the knowledge that you can on out today's breakfast show. Anyways we'll see you again tomorrow. Tomorrow is going to be our final show before Christmas and I'm quite excited for that one. But we'll see you again tomorrow. My name is Rometh Paulson and I am Yamgul Agadji. Let's do it again tomorrow.