The Chairman of Yakurr Local Government Area and Chairman of the Cross River State chapter of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON), Chief Yibala Inyang, has declared that local governments in the state are enjoying unprecedented funding, administrative support and partnership under the administration of Governor Bassey Edet Otu.
Inyang, who made the assertion while reacting to allegations of underfunding of local governments by the factional PDP governorship candidate, Sir Arthur Jarvis, said the present administration had empowered councils to execute projects and intervene in critical sectors, including healthcare, sanitation, local security and infrastructure.
The ALGON Chairman spoke on Thursday, August 13, 2026, at the NUJ Secretariat in Calabar, where he dismissed the allegations as unfounded, insisting that local government funds were being properly utilised for the benefit of communities.
“That’s a total fallacy because the local governments are having the best in terms of funding. In this administration, we have power to the level that local governments are doing projects and partnering with the state to intervene in critical areas such as health, sanitation, local security and infrastructural development,” Inyang said.
He explained that the joint account arrangement between the state and local governments, backed by enabling legislation, had strengthened the capacity of councils to meet their financial obligations and sustain development initiatives. According to him, the arrangement had also contributed to ensuring that no local government in the state was owing salaries.
“Without the joint account, some LGAs won’t be able to pay salaries and handle the running cost in some months because of low allocation. The reason why in this administration no LGA is owing salary in the state,” he said.
Inyang argued that local government autonomy should be measured by effective access to funds, responsible utilisation, payment of workers’ salaries and the delivery of tangible benefits to the people, rather than by semantics. He maintained that council funds had been equitably distributed and effectively deployed to development projects across the state.
He said the current administration represented a significant departure from previous practices, noting that local governments were now able to use their funds for development projects and interventions across their wards. “This is the first time in the history of Cross River that you have a governor who allows funds meant for local governments to be used to carry out developmental projects and interventions in our various wards,” he stated.
Giving examples from Yakurr, Inyang said his administration had executed or commenced projects in 12 of the council’s 13 wards based on identified community needs. He listed the construction of roads, drainages and culverts, rehabilitation of public facilities, market development and empowerment programmes among the interventions.
He said the council had constructed several culverts in Ekori, a mini bridge in Nko, rehabilitated the Nko Modern Market and commenced construction of a modern market in Ekori. He added that several culverts had also been constructed in Ijom, near the General Hospital in Ugep, including the reconstruction of a major double-decker culvert that had collapsed before the present administration came into office.
The council chairman further disclosed that a new Primary Healthcare Centre was being constructed in Ijiman Ward, Ugep, through a community-local government partnership, while a mini pavilion at the Ugep Stadium had been completed and another at Mkpani was nearing completion. He added that the Ugep Stadium had also been rehabilitated, including the construction of drainage infrastructure to address flooding.
According to him, the council was preparing to commence the rehabilitation of facilities in several schools, while the state government was complementing local government efforts through major road projects in Ugep Urban, with Ekori and Idomi expected to benefit subsequently.
Inyang maintained that similar projects were being implemented by other local governments across the state, describing the developments as evidence of the utilisation of council funds for the benefit of residents. He urged opposition politicians to substantiate their allegations with evidence rather than resort to what he described as “subtle blackmail and old-style propaganda.”
On allegations of worsening poverty at the grassroots, the ALGON Chairman said the claim was equally unfounded, pointing to the regular payment of salaries and imprest to local government workers as evidence of improved financial administration.
“Since we came on board at local government, we’ve been paying imprest to all of the civil servants, salaries have been paid completely and no local government is owing. If anybody is saying so, they should bring out facts and show how far the local government is owing,” he said.
On security, Inyang said council chairmen had continued to play significant roles in maintaining peace across their respective jurisdictions, noting that several communal conflicts that previously threatened communities had been contained through collaboration between the councils and the state government.
He explained that the partnership between local governments and the state had become particularly important in addressing security challenges that transcend individual council boundaries, stressing that a crisis in one local government could quickly develop into a wider state security concern.
Turning to the 2027 political contest, Inyang urged opposition politicians seeking elective offices to move away from what he described as politics of blackmail and misinformation and instead present clear programmes and alternatives to the electorate.
“If they really have the interest of this state, if they think they really want to govern this state, let them tell us what we’ve not done and how well they’ll do it if given the opportunity,” he said.
He cited the administration’s efforts to restore Cross River’s oil-producing status, reclaim Tinapa and advance the state’s agricultural estates as some of the milestones he said should be acknowledged rather than subjected to political misinformation.
Reacting specifically to Arthur Jarvis’ one-term campaign message, Inyang questioned the opposition politician’s capacity to govern the state, arguing that state governance required broad administrative experience and exposure beyond the management of a private institution.
“I don’t think he is fit to run half a term, not to talk of one full term. Arthur Jarvis should first prove that he can run government, not running a school. Governance of a state is more in-depth and requires enough experience and exposure in various political and public offices of high repute,” he said.
Inyang, however, described Governor Bassey Edet Otu as a prudent administrator whose people-oriented governance, he said, had produced measurable results across the state.
“Our Governor, His Excellency Senator Prince Bassey Edet Otu, has demonstrated the qualities of a prudent administrator with a people-oriented governance mentality. His achievements within this first tenure can attest to the fact that he is the real person Cross River State deserves at the moment,” the ALGON Chairman concluded.
By Kingsley Agim
