The Edo House of assembly has directed the 18 local council chairmen to present their record of internally generated revenue (IGR) before the house for verification on July 9.
The directive was sequel to a petition sent the house by the Nigeria Union of Local government Employees (NULGE) over the non-payment of local government workers salaries.
The chairman of the ad-hoc committee, Mr Bright Osayande, member representing ( APC Ovia North East) briefed newsmen after a closed door meeting with the chairmen.
Osayande said the chairmen have been mandated to present their IGR statement for verification with a view to knowing what they generated and how the revenue generated are being spent.
“We have just met with thstatee 18 local government council chairmen and they have explain their constrains and the reason why they have not been able to pay workers salaries.
“We have asked them to bring their record of IGR so that we can verify them and know what step to take,” he said.
Reacting, Mrs Itohan Ogbeide, the chairman of Ikpoba-Okha local council and Association of Local Government of Nigeria (ALGON)in the state, explained that councils IGR would not be enough to pay the workers salaries.
Ogbeide said” the issue is not bringing the books of account but the low allocation that comes to the councils from the federation account.
“allocation to councils have reduced drastically and when we pay teachers salaries, pay traditional institutions, nothing is left to pay other workers,” she said.
According to her, I believe that there will be bailout soon from the federal government.
