Akeredolu: I Did Not Promise Local Government Autonomy

By James Sowole in Akure

Ondo State Governor, Mr. Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, at the weekend broke his silence on the much debated autonomy for local government, stating that Nigeria has only two tiers of government.

Akeredolu while featuring on his maiden media chat tagged: ‘An Evening With the Governor’ aired live on the state owned radio and television channels, said he never promised to support local government autonomy.

He said during the campaigns that he never promised to support local government  autonomy being a lawyer who understands the principle of true federatalism.

Akeredolu called for more robust dialogue on the local government autonomy debate in a way that is beneficial to all strata of society.

“I never said I will support local government autonomy during my campaign.

“We must handle local government autonomy with caution because Nigeria has only the federal and state as federating units,” he said.

Akeredolu also explained that the government would pay the 2017 leave bonus payment when the state is buoyant,  stressing that it was not a ‘right but a bonus’.

He also debunked rumours that he was shielding his predecessor and friend,  Dr Olusegun Mimiko, from the indebtedness of the state to many financial institutions and other interests.

“Yes Mimiko is my friend, I cannot deny that because politics will come and go, but I restate that what I met on ground is over N220 billion debt.

It is a fallacy to say  that Mimiko left money, if yes, why was he owing?”he asked.

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