Enugu Council Boss Partners Private Sector To Boost IGR

The chairman of Nkanu West Local Government Area of Enugu State, Chief Nwabueze Nnamani, says he embarked on public-private partnerships to boost the internally-generated revenue of his council after the Covid-19 pandemic reduced federation allocations to LGAs in the country.

Speaking exclusively with THE WHISTLER at Agbani, Thursday, Chief Nnamani also asked Nigerians to change their ‘wrong impressions’ about LGAs in order for the third-tier of government to be more result-oriented.

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According to him, “Covid-19 grounded the economy, and affected the revenue of the entire federation. So the allocations to various tiers of government went very low. That is how the idea of public-private-partnerships came to my mind. We found an investor ready to build an international building materials market. We have the land and he will build, operate for ten years, and it will revert to the local government area. While he is operating, whatever profits he is making, Nkanu West LGA has twenty-five percent of it. Then when he hands over to the council, it becomes 100 percent council ownership.

“At Agbani, we are building a modern motor park with about 104 stores. We got an investor, and the work is in progress. He will run it for five years during which we still get twenty-five percent of the profits. After five years, he hands over to the council who becomes the owner. We have another one at Ozalla. It is a modern motor park, with a banking hall, resting places, and about 344 stores. It is strategic that those coming from Abia, Imo, and the southsouth, and those returning from the entire north and Lagos can easily rest there and leave the next morning. The same way, the investor will operate for five years, remitting twenty-five percent of the profits to Nkanu West, and after five years, it is handed over to the council to manage 100 percent.”

Chief Nnamani also regretted the poor attitude to work of local government workers. In his words, “People have wrong impressions about the local government administration. Some parents will abdicate their responsibilities to chairmen. If you fail to do all, they deal with you on the social media. For the employed ones, some argue that there is no need to come to work every day. They need orientation to discharge their duties effectively.”

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