Awka — The Anambra State House of Assembly weekend passed into law a Bill establishing Anambra State Joint Local Government Accounts (Distribution Committee) Law, 2007 to take effect from the same day.

The law provides that all allocations to the Local Government Councils from the Federation Accounts, the councils' shares of the state's internally generated revenue and any other revenue accruable to the councils shall be paid into the account.

The Bill was jointly sponsored by Honourables Ikenna Amaechi, Paulinus Obichukuw, Gabriel Onyenweife and Emeka Idu.

Before it passed the Bill, the lawmaker had condemned the management of funds allocated to the Local Government Councils in the state, saying the arrangement made room for short-changing of the councils by the state government.

The House also frowned at a situation whereby "only the wage bills for the various councils and about N500,000 running costs and at times between N3 to N5 million for project were being released to each of the local government councils on monthly basis."

The House said it was disturbing that the provisions of section 162 of the constitution regarding the distribution of funds between states and local government was being abused in the state, arguing that the the state government was supposed to be remitting some revenue to the councils instead of taking the ones due to them.

According to the new law, the implementation committee for the joint accounts shall comprise of a chairman who will be the person representing the state at the National Revenue Mobilisation Commission, and other members who must include the state finance commissioner, six members of the House of Assembly, three members to be appointed by the Governor and the Permanent Secretary Ministry of Finance, who will serve as the secretary.