Unpaid Salaries And Pensions Of Local Government Staff

 

Outdated revenue sharing formula and misinterpretation of joint accounts have been identified as responsible for unpaid salaries of Local Government staff in most States of the Federation.

While reiterating that there are no quick fixes, guests on Good Morning Nigeria say to get it right, the nation must return to the drawing board and adhere to constitutional provisions.

Being one of the three pivots on which government stands, an effective local government administration system is said to be important for both political and economic reasons. Apart from exercising power, providing local public services in accordance with the peculiar needs of their areas, the local governments are also required to promote accountability.

Discussants on a Live NTA Good Morning Nigeria program however say all these can only be realized through good governance and stable financial income and discipline ironically local governments in Nigeria they noted have been emasculated by state governments through the controversial joint accounts and lack of autonomy.

All these have led to a huge backlog of unpaid salaries. They lamented the imposition of projects and alleged hijacking of Local Government funds by some state governors as fundamental problems that can only be addressed through legislations that can guarantee local governments autonomy; they called for enabling environment for the local government to increase internally generated revenue, which can be achieved through collective resolve to stop undue interference from states.