Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State yesterday inaugurated 68 caretaker chairmen for 33 councils and 35 Local Government Development Areas (LCDAs) recently cleared by the House of Assembly.

The swearing-in ceremony held at the Executive Council Chamber of the Governor’s Office in Agodi, Ibadan.

Speaking at the inauguration, Makinde said the nomination was to ensure that there was no vacuum at the third tier of government till a proper election is conducted.

The governor said: “What we are doing here today is inaugurating the Local Government and Local Council Development Areas Caretaker chairpersons, and to ensure that a vacuum is not created in governance.

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“We are also doing this to make sure that our people continue to enjoy the dividends that accrue from electing a legitimate government.“I have often said that this administration is people-centred and will continue to put the interests of the people first. You will agree with me that the closer government is to the people, the more impactful and meaningful the activities of government will be to them.”

According to him, the inauguration is an integral part of the good governance he promised the people of Oyo.“You are indeed occupying unique positions as a link between the state government and the people. Ideally, you are the first port of call to address the governance issues of the people before extending same to higher authorities.”

Makinde has also signed the 2020 budget of N213 billion, which was passed by the House of Assembly at an estimate of on Friday, into law. Before signing the bill at the Executive Council Chambers of the Governor’s Office, he said the budget represented the aspirations of the people and in line with his roadmap for accelerated development.

He noted that additional N4.985 billion was added to the proposed budget cutting across capital and recurrent expenditure, adding that he remained committed in ensuring about 70 percent implementation of the budget.The budget has N103,360,177,83.97 as capital expenditure and N110,427,8855,919 as recurrent.Speaker of the House of Assembly, Debo Ogundoyin, said the increment in the budget was to give wide spread development, particularly to the grassroots.