The Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) yesterday urged President Muhammadu Buhari to back his words on supporting local government autonomy with action
NULGE pleaded with the President to put in place machinery to ensure a constitutional amendment to free the third tier of government from the apron of governors.
The union decried the overbearing attitude of governors over local governments, saying this has stunted development in the rural areas.
NULGE said while the President had spoken of his support for local government autonomy on several occasions, there was nothing on ground to suggest the actualisation of such promises.
Speaking with reporters in Abuja at the weekend, the National President, Comrade Ibrahim Kahleel, sought immediate constitutional amendment, “if that is what is required to achieve the desired autonomy for local governments and free them from the apron of governors, who see and treat local governments as extensions of their states.”
President Buhari had told the leadership of the Association of Local Governments in Nigeria (ALGON) that his administration would support a constitutional amendment to free local governments from the stranglehold of states.
Kahleel who is a deputy president of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), said the union and organised labour would join hands with the President to liberate the third tier of government from governors.
He said: “We listened to President Buhari during the visits of ALGON, and I can tell you that we are happy with what the President said. Labour and NULGE are willing and ready to help the President fulfill this promise.”