Chairman of Enugu East Local Government Area, Chief Alex Ugwu, said on Tuesday that council chairmen had no reason to underperform as they were fully in charge of their council’s finances and allocations.
Ugwu stated this during a Good Governance Tour by a coalition of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and the state council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ).
He said the council had received over N1.9 billion of Federal Allocation from December 2017 to date.
Ugwu said under his watch, the council had judiciously utilised its revenue as evident in numerous projects executed by his administration.
He said the council graded about eight rural link roads and remained the only council to asphalt a 1.5km road in the last two years.
He promised that the ongoing rehabilitation of the 1.5km Enugu East–Mbuluowehe Road would soon be completed.
Ugwu cited the completion of the council’s administrative block, abandoned 10 years ago, as one of the landmark achievements of his administration.
He attributed successes recorded by his administration to the prudent management of the council’s resources.
The said he cleared the three months workers’ salary arrears inherited by his administration, and that the council had one of the highest workforce in the state, put at 1,119, adding that the council was up-to-date in the payment of salaries.
Speaking at the end of the tour, the NUJ Chairman, Mr. Rex Arum, said the council chairman had done his best given the resources at his disposal.
Arum, however, urged Ugwu to venture into agriculture, considering that the area was blessed with arable land. He said that agriculture would open up opportunities for the youths and also ensure food security in the state.
Also, the leader of the coalition of CSOs, Mr. Onyebuchi Igboke, said that the tour was organised to assess the performance of the council chairmen and ensure that only visionary people were elected into office.
Igboke alleged that some chairmen that had nothing to show were already plotting for a second tenure.
NAN
