By Oluwole Ige
The All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate for Oyo South Senatorial District, Barrister Sharafadeen Abiodun Alli, on Friday promised to attract more federal presence to his senatorial district and support local government autonomy if he wins February 25 National Assembly poll.
He also hinted that the creation of jobs, the provision of an enabling environment for small and medium-scale entrepreneurs and the promotion of the agricultural value chain are the major nuclei of his agenda.
Featuring on a guest forum platform of the Correspondents’ Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Oyo State council, Alli, who is former Secretary to the State Government (SSG) in Oyo, lamented what he termed the pitiable condition of local governments in the state, saying full autonomy for the councils remain the solution to socioeconomic challenges at the grassroots level.
He lamented that local governments in the state are comatose, existing on paper under the present administration in the state.
Alli, who contended that he is in the race to attract more federal presence to the senatorial district, vowed to support local government autonomy if he wins the February 25 election.
He stated: “It is a known fact that local governments are dead in Oyo State. This has been admitted by the governor. He gave them N10m and said they did not do anything with it.
“We have local governments during the administration of Governor Lam Adesina, Chief Rasidi Ladoja, Chief Adebayo Alao-Akala and even Abiola Ajimobi, and it has not been like this. Local governments just exist by number, they do not have any power to do anything.
“The healthcare centres are not functioning in the state, even though a certain amount of money is budgeted for primary healthcare.
“People are now taking malaria cases to UCH. Something that should be treated at the primary healthcare centres because the local governments are not functioning.
“The local government cannot do anything, as far as I am concerned, there is no local government in Oyo state, they are just existing on paper.”
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