TheCable

Babagana Zulum, governor of Borno, has instructed all local government chairmen in the state to sign an attendance register four times daily at their respective council secretariats.

Zulum gave the directive on Monday in Maiduguri, the state capital, during the swearing-in ceremony of the 27 elected council chairpersons.

The governor said the ministry of local government should deploy biometric data capturing machines to council areas for chairmen to thumbprint daily at 8 a.m., 12 noon, 2 p.m. and 3.30 p.m.

Zulum said the decision is meant to curtail absenteeism or absconding from work by any chairman without genuine reason, noting that “abscondment” remains an impeachment offence.

“We have advised chairmen, time without number, but the advice had not been adhered to strictly,” NAN quoted Zulum as saying.

“We have now designed a measure to ensure their presence, which is very important.”

Zulum noted that with the improved security in the state, the council chairmen needed to be with their people to aid his administration’s commitment to rehabilitation, reconstruction and resettlement of displaced persons.

He also urged them to be prudent in managing the scarce resources of the state, while also tasking them to ensure the spread of development projects across communities in their areas.

Zulum encouraged them to work closely with security personnel in facilitating peace and the return of civil authority in their areas.