TheCable

Babatunde Fashola, the governor of Lagos state, has disclosed that March has been tentatively fixed for the local government election in the state.

Speaking on Monday while administering the oath of office on 57 executive secretaries that would run the affairs of the 20 local government areas and 37 local council development areas of the state, the governor said the state Independent Electoral Commission would sort out all the necessary issues ahead of the election.

The previously elected chairmen of the various councils vacated their offices on October 18, following the expiration of their statutory three-year tenure.

Since then, the council managers had been overseeing the day-to-day activities of the LGAs.

Fashola said the appointment of the executive secretaries was to ensure there was no vacuum in service delivery at the grassroots, adding that each of them would oversee the council assigned to him or her with four other officials for a transitional period of three months.

The governor urged the new appointees to justify the confidence reposed in them by serving conscientiously and working with other people to uplift the people at the grassroots.

He also charged them to strengthen education at the grassroots and work assiduously to improve primary health care delivery system in their areas.

“We expect the new appointees to focus on their primary responsibilities at the councils. The first duty of any government is to secure lives and properties,” he said.

“Also, my mandate to you is to go and intimate all members of your committees that they are part of us, they are Lagosians, and that we must integrate everybody and we must live in peaceful co-existence.”

Fashola urged people who might have been aggrieved by the selection of the appointees to work with them, pointing out it that it could not have been possible to give responsibilities to every deserving person.

The governor restated the commitment of his administration to service delivery at the grassroots, saying the government has done a lot to demonstrate this.

Omofunmilewa Adejombo, who spoke on behalf of the appointees, appreciated the state government for the appointment, describing it as a golden opportunity to serve.

He assured the state government that he and others would do their best to impact positively on the lives of the people at the grassroots.