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The Bayelsa State government is to
evolve a legislative framework to compel traditional rulers and
chairmen of councils to reside and discharge their functions in their
domains.

The State Governor, Timipre Sylva, on
Wednesday, in Yenagoa, at a Town Hall meeting with community leaders,
said that the practice where some traditional rulers and council
chairmen were residing in the state capital was counter-productive to
the development of the rural areas.

About 90 percent of council chairmen
and traditional rulers in the state reside and carry out their
functions from Yenagoa, abandoning their subjects in the rural
communities.

“If only the traditional rulers and
council chairmen would stay in their respective domains and carry out
their leadership functions, I believe we will have fewer problems in
the state,” Mr. Sylva said.

The governor’s decision to return them
to their areas of authority followed a complaint by a concerned
community leader, Dennis Atimi.

Mr. Atimi, who is from Ekeremor local
government area, had, at the meeting, complained to the governor that
the absence of the council chairmen in their areas had led to the
collapse of local government administration in the state.

“If the chairmen were compelled to stay in the council areas and
discharge their functions, there will be high sense of responsibility
and commitment to the growth and development of the councils,” he said.