SECURITY ALERT WITH JIDE

CRIME BATTLE: Lagos Councils To Donate 114 Vehicles To Police 

The 20 Local Governments and 37 Local Council Development Areas of Lagos State, have concluded arrangement to donate 114 patrol vehicles to the police to wage war against armed robbers in the state.

Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Ademorin Kuye disclosed this at a ministerial press briefing.
Kuye said each of the council chairmen would donate two patrol vans for police to beef up the security in the state and that the vehicles would soon be launched.
The commissioner, however, made a passionate appeal to the National Assembly, and its members to take a favorable look at the protracted issue of the 37 new LCDAs in Lagos State with a view to admitting them as part of the Local Governments in the Federation.
“I am of the opinion that the adoption of fiscal federalism will go a long way in solving issues in the country. It is by adopting fiscal federalism that Nigeria can solve the endless agitation for revenue adjustments and sharing and the undue struggle for power at the centre.
“If the oil producing states are benefiting from a 13% revenue derivation formula, it is only just that Lagos State be equally paid 13% from the huge revenue generated from the taxes, customs and excise duties and VAT in the State. The double standard in revenue sharing should be reviewed,” he stated.
Kuye added that “there is no denying the fact that Lagos is daily faced with onerous responsibilities, such as the rural-urban migration with attendant consequences of over-stretched infrastructure, and as such should be allowed to benefit from what the oil producing states are benefitting since they all generate revenue from different sources, while such increased fund would go a long way to enhance grassroots development.
“That aside, the Federal Government should give Lagos State a special status thereby fulfilling the promise made by the military government that Lagos would be given such, when the nations’ capital was moved to Abuja in 1991.”
To ensure prudent spending, Kuye said the councils had been directed to cut down on running cost, allowances, among others, adding that “we have equally given all council engineers data collating forms through which they will furnish the ministry with monthly reports of all activities. With this mechanism, things would be normalised as against what obtained in recent past.
“Because we owe it a duty to leave this place better than we met it and in order to make Lagos compete favourably with other modern cities in the world, with corresponding infrastructure, all organs of government, particularly, the Local Councils have to cut down on frivolous spending.
“Conscious and concise efforts have been made, and directives given, based on an agreement reached with our council chairmen that substantial amount/income accruable to Local Government Councils must be judiciously spent on capital projects.”
The commissioner further said that “for there to be congruence of purpose in the scheme of things amongst the two levels of governments, that is, the Lagos State Government and the Councils, efforts is geared for the release of a sum of about N4.5bn from the excess crude oil savings by are Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola of Lagos State in terms of funding and in order to assist the 57 councils in providing sustainable capital projects, production of agricultural goods, security, etc, for the teeming populace.”