Edo State Commissioner for Communication and Orientation, Chris Nehikhare, has refuted claims that the state government held on to the allocations of traditional rulers in the state since July 2022 to April 2023.
He disclosed that the local government councils across the state on Thursday started payment of the allocations between April and July 2023 which were held up because of administrative issues between the traditional rulers which “were resolved after series of meetings between the Palace of the Oba of Benin, where the meetings were held, led by the Iyase of Benin, Sam Igbe, the Enogies, the governor was there as an observer.
On Enogies, the Commissioner averred that “they’re answerable to the Oba of Benin, who is the head of the Edo State Traditional Council as well as the Benin Traditional Council. He is the one that nominates Enogies but it’s the state government that gives them the staff of office.
“These Enogies are the subject of the Oba. Nothing has changed. The 1979 Chieftaincy Edict described the scenario that’s playing out today. Traditional Councils are involved in the security management of their domains, social cohesion in the local communities and also the eye and ear of the Oba and of course the members of the local traditional council, the local government security council.
“In Edo South, this has worked and we want to bring them in very seriously so that we have a cohesive administration at that level. We’re glad that the Iyase led the delegation, agreed with the Enogies how they wanted it to work. All we are doing is doing their bidding as a government.
“The state government at no point in time were we in custody of their funds. It was with the local governments. They’re the ones that held on to the local government 25 percent allocation. We are happy the way things are going. We have gotten lots of feedback from the people, from these traditional rulers and they’re happy.
“They’re happy because they believe a new lease of life is coming to them. Now, we are going to give them more responsibilities in terms of demanding more from them.”
Highlight of the funds paid to the traditional rulers showed that N1,316,746,764.13 was the total amount with N639.2million going to Edo South District. Benin Traditional Council (BTC) having N329.6million while the Enogies from the seven local government areas that make up the district were paid N255.7million.
Traditional rulers in Edo Central district got N299.8million while those in Edo North were paid N377.6million.
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