Governor of the State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola has charged the newly elected councillors across the state to make the development of their constituents the watchword during their tenure of office.
Delivering an address titled: “A New Dawn In Democratic Representation, the Governor said his administration only acceded to the demand of Osun people through the memoranda of 2012, noting that there can not be an issue as to the acceptability of the parliamentary system of government at the local level by the people of the state.
He explained that the parliamentary system of government is far better than the executive because the latter has absolute powers vested in the hands of one individual which could make the leader in such circumstance to be an authoritarian leader.
Ogbeni Aregbesola who expressed delight at seeing a democratically elected government return to the local areas stated that the system of government by democratically elected people is well-established in the constitution of the country, leaving no room for ambiguity.
He said, “I don’t know why some people are malicious about what we have done because I know it is unfounded, the system of local government administration by democratically elected people is well-established in the constitution of Nigeria and so it is not ambiguous at all.
“And let me tell you that nowhere in the constitution of the country was it stated that we should use the executive or parliamentary system of government at the local level, our constitution remains neutral concerning it. The most important thing is that it must be democratic.
“We should all be happy about the parliamentary system of government because it is the best form of democratic government, it avoids a situation where an individual sees himself as the most powerful person.
“The parliamentary system does not allow for being an authoritarian leader because the executives are formed by the entire parliament, thereby making members of the parliament to be members of the executive.
“In the parliamentary system, visions are seen and arrived at together while the actions are also jointly taken, it is also more stable and less prone to corruption because everybody wants the progress of democracy in the system”, he said.
Ogbeni Aregbesola also used the occasion to admonish the elected parliamentarians to be steadfast, honest and have the love of the people who elected them into office at heart, saying, the beauty of democracy is to deliver its dividends to the electorates.
He urged them to see themselves as change agents while putting loyalty to their party and the interest of the people on the front burner. He also charged them to join the drive of the state government in sustainable revenue generation for the local government and state governments.
On environmental sanitation, the governor urged the councillors to see themselves as the chief sanitation officers of their various local government, stressing that they should work closely with waste management agencies to clean up the environment.
“I urge you to see yourselves as change agents in your local governments, you must listen to the people who elected you. Your first task is to ensure that the environment is clean throughout your local government, I give you three weeks to clean the waste in your area.
Addressing the gathering, the state APC Chairman, Prince Adegboyega Famodun also noted that the parliamentary system of government will bring government closer to the people and urged the parliamentarians to obey their party at all times.
He said they should always have it at the back of their mind that it is the party that drives the system, noting that the party is now in a crucial time as elections is around the corner.
Also speaking, the Chairman of the APC elders’ council in the state, Engr. Sola Akinwunmi commended the selfless manner Ogbeni Aregbesola has been running the affairs of the state in the past seven years.
He explained that he is particularly thrilled about the parliamentary system of government at the local level because it will create a lot of discipline among politicians and the electorates.
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