Good governance: FCT Minister reads riot acts to Council chairmen

By Stanley Onyekwere

To ensure attainment of good governance, the FCT Minister, Malam Muhammad Musa Bello has charged the six Area Council Chairmen of the FCT on the need to deliver true dividends of democracy to the electorate.
Bello particularly told the Council chairmen to wake to their responsibilities, as none of them can complain of being hindered from doing his or her job.
He spoke yesterday when a delegation of elected officials of the FCT led by Senator Phillip Aduda paid a courtesy visit to the FCT Administration.
He opined that no matter how hard the FCT Administration was working, if there was no commensurate level of work at the Area Council level, the populace might not see any improvement in services being rendered.
He admonished them that the time of governance has commenced as campaigns had long ended while urging them to mobilise their people to engage in community service by cleaning up the environment.
In his words: “The level of responsibility bestowed on you (Council chairmen) as elected representatives of the people are enormous and in terms of resource allocations, it is only in the FCT that nobody touches your resources.
“Allocations are made as when they are due as approved by law. So really, no Area Council Chairman can complain of being hindered from doing his job.”
The Minister revealed that the FCT Administration will place emphasis on development in the areas of health, education, security and infrastructure.
He reminded the Chairmen that primary education, primary health care and basic sanitation are within the purview of the Area Councils adding that these where “low hanging fruits” that can be properly tackled with more of good governance than politicking.
Bello who further said that the Area Council Chairmen can achieve their mandate with cooperation and synergy, reminded them that the laws setting up the various Boards in the FCT have the Council chairmen as members.
He adds: “Take the laws establishing the Abuja Environmental Protection Board, for instance, the laws setting it up has every council chairman as members.”
According to him, this was to ensure that every part of the FCT was kept clean at all times.
He however lamented that several areas in the Area Councils were not being properly environmentally sanitised.
The Minister equally reminded them that they were also Board members of Universal Basic Education Board (UBEB), Secondary Education Board (SEB) amongst other Boards and they should pay particular attention to what goes on in those agencies so that they can deliver to the people the dividends of democracy.
He therefore urged them to make the satellite towns centres of excellence and expressed dismay at the level of untidiness at the satellite towns.
He especially frowned at the median of the market road in Gwagwalada, the entrance to the cemeteries in Karu and the grass on the median along the train station in Bwari, describing them as eye sores and an embarrassment.
On revenue generation, Bello called on them to take advantage of the Act establishing the FCT IRS to generate revenue while looking inwards to improve on their revenue base.
Similarly, the FCT Minister of State, Dr. Ramatu Tijjani Aliyu, called for cooperation and synergy between the elected officials and the FCTA and pledged to work hard to ensure that residents of the FCT received the full dividends of democracy.
Speaking earlier, the leader of the delegation, Senator Phillip Aduda commended the FCT Minister on his achievements during his first tenure in office, and pledged the cooperation and support of all the elected officials of the FCT.
In their response, the Area Council Chairmen pledged their support and cooperation to the FCT Administration.
Members of the delegation also included members of the House of Representatives representing the FCT.