LG Administration:-From Grassroots To Growth:”No Excuse For Failure ” Engr.Adetunji Declares At Workshop

The technical Advisor to the Ekiti State Governor on Local Government Project Monitoring and Evaluation Engr.Olabode Adetunji has declared that a new dawn of effective governance and visible projects is breaking across the Local Government Areas (LGAs) of Ekiti State, with chairmen now having “no reason not to perform,”

He made the remark on Wednesday in Ado Ekiti during his keynote address at the opening ceremony of a 3-day workshop on “Building Support for Effective Local Government Administration.” The event was organized by the State Ministry of Local Government Affairs in partnership with TIMA Integrated Business Limited to strengthen the synergy of critical officers at the local government across the state.

Engr. Adetunji, a former local government chairman himself, attributed this transformative shift to two key factors: the financial autonomy granted to LGAs by President Bola Tinubu’s administration and the empathetic, grassroots-focused leadership of Governor Biodun Oyebanji.

“Development starts from the grassroots. If nothing is happening at the grassroots, then the totality of the state or the nation, nothing is happening,” Adetunji stated, emphasizing the critical role of local governance.

He detailed the dramatic financial turnaround, noting, “Before the autonomy was granted, the Federal Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) used to be like 590 billion Naira. But today, it’s over 2 trillion Naira—a massive increment across the nation.”

This federal policy, he explained, has been supercharged at the state level by Governor Oyebanji’s commitment to allowing these funds to flow directly to the councils.

“I can tell you, the net distributable income for our local government chairmen has increased to between 140 to 150%. They have been given power; they have been given financial power. That is why the local government chairmen are performing.”

Drawing a parallel with the Governor’s popular “listening” style, Adetunji advised chairmen to keep their “doors open to all,” whether to a professor, farmer, or mechanic. “You must listen to them, aggregate their needs, and give them what they desire. Once you give them what they requested, they will support the government.”

He painted a vivid picture of the development boom this synergy has created, revealing, “As a supervisor of projects across the local governments, projects are happening. In actual fact, by next year, the governor will have to delegate the commissioning of projects to other functionaries because he won’t have time to commission all the projects going on at the grassroots.”

Speaking on a confident note, Engr. Adetunji linked the visible progress to broader political realignments, stating, “This is why even at the federal level, you see other governors decamping to the APC—because they are better with monumental increment in their financial capacities.

He concluded his speech with the tagline ” BAO Everywhere,BAO Beyond Boarders” re-emphasizing the Governor’s acceptability statewide.