Photo Credit: The Sun Newspaper / Ebonyi State Government House
Nwifuru Granted LG Autonomy Long Before Supreme Court Ruling – Ebonyi Commissioner
The Ebonyi State Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters, Uchenna Igwe, says Governor Francis Nwifuru granted full financial autonomy to local government areas in the state more than a year before the Supreme Court judgment on LG autonomy.

Igwe disclosed this in Abakaliki during the swearing-in ceremony of the newly elected council chairmen in the state.

According to him, all projects and programmes of the Nwifuru administration are driven by the verified needs of Ebonyi people. He described the governor’s approach as a balanced diet of good governance, combining infrastructure with human capital development.

The Commissioner listed some of the administration’s achievements to include early implementation of wage awards and salary increment for workers, lifting of embargo on employment, and the recruitment of thousands of teachers and health workers across the 13 LGAs.

He also noted that the payment of gratuity arrears to local government retirees and the transformation of the rural health sector have improved the welfare of retirees.

“It is heartwarming to note that Governor Nwifuru granted financial autonomy to the local government areas in Ebonyi State for over a year before the Supreme Court ruling of July 11, 2024,” Igwe stated.

Igwe further said the administration inherited a local government system bedevilled by traditional stool and town union crises, with only 67 communities, representing 48% of communities in the state, having traditional rulers in 2023.

He said the ministry has since resolved the conflicts, created 15 new communities, and democratized the emergence of traditional rulers and town union leaders, with successful elections held in over 80 communities including Emezaka, Nkomoro, Okpoto, Obegu, Ekwashi, Amoffia Ngbo, Alioma and Okue.

Source: The Sun Newspaper –