LG Autonomy: Gov. Diri Calls for Creation of More LGAs in Bayelsa State

Bight Newspaper reports that Bayelsa State Governor, Senator Douye Diri, has advocated for the creation of additional local government areas in the state. He made this call while speaking to journalists in Abuja after his Appeal Court victory in the gubernatorial election.

Gov. Diri emphasized that Bayelsa State has been unfairly treated with only eight local government areas, compared to other states with significantly more.

Diri said:”First in Bayelsa, we don’t believe that we have been fairly treated. That we have just 8 local government areas as opposed to some other states with 44 and 40 local government areas. That to us is injustice. That is not fair.”

He believes that states should have the authority to create and manage their own local governments, rather than relying on federal resources.

“Our position from the beginning of this discuss has been that states should take charge of the number of local governments they can create. The number of local governments that they can cater for. You don’t create local governments and take resources from one state and cater for the local governments in another state. That is robbing Peter to pay Paul.” Gov. Diri added.

Gov. Diri proudly stated that in Bayelsa, the state government has been the strength of local governments, augmenting their funds and setting up a system for functional local governance. Local governments in Bayelsa now pay salaries, execute capital projects, and even have savings, all managed by the councils themselves.

“For local government autonomy, in Bayelsa it is known secret that Bayelsa State government has been the source of the strength of local governments. We have not only augmented for local governments, we have set up a system that is making local governments to be functional in Bayelsa State. ” Diri said.

The governor highlighted the importance of correcting the injustices in local government creation and funding, warning that failure to do so could lead to bottled-up anger and remote causes that may explode in the future.

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