Mimiko
In the face of prevailing economic realities in the country, Governor Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo State has charged the newly elected 18 local council chairmen in the state to be frugal by judiciously deploying scarce resources in priority areas of development.
He also challenged the council chiefs to appoint dynamic teams and bring to bear good human management spirit in their leadership styles.
Mimiko, who spoke yesterday in Akure while swearing in the all Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) council chief executives, urged them to replicate the dividends of democracy at the third tier of government.
“It has been a burning desire of our administration not only to inject fresh and robust governance into the local councils, but to also inculcate the democratic ethos and the spirit of fair political competition in that tier of government through free and fair periodic elections,” he stated.
The governor explained that the delay experienced in the conduct of the polls arose from the fallout of the protracted litigation between the chairmen of the past administration on one hand, and his administration on the other.
Mimiko, however, thanked the State Independent Electoral Commission (ODIEC) for conducting a successful election.
He charged the chairmen that their “administration is a democratic one that must be alive to the functions of the local governments as enunciated in the Fourth Schedule of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (1999) which include but not limited to provision and maintece of primary; adult and vocational education; development of agricultural and natural resources; provision and maintece of health services; making recommendations on economic development to the state on areas affecting your local governments; construction and maintece of roads, etc.
“You will also be expected to display exemplary leadership, transparency and accountability in the conduct of government business.
“As the chief security officers in your domains, maintece of peace and security in the face of daunting security challenges should be your primary concern.
“You are expected to complement the efforts of the state government in the pivotal role to ensure the security of lives and property of our citizenry so as to continue with the peace and harmony that currently pervade the state,” the governor stated.,,
Guardian