The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Autonomy

  • ALGON chief hails Dogara on council autonomy

    President of the Association of Local Government of Nigeria (ALGON), Hon. Micah Jiba has hailed the effort of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Yakubu Dogara in ensuring that local governments achieve financial autonomy.

    The Speaker has been trying to get state Houses of Assembly to support moves to grant autonomy to the councils.

    In a statement issued by the ALGON president stated that granting financial autonomy to local governments will alleviate suffering and underdevelopment at the grassroots as a result of lack of financial freedom for the local governments in the country.

    Jiba stated that he wondered why the idea of financial autonomy was initially rejected by the state Assemblies, adding that the issues has become necessary following the fact that the new government in power has also declared to Nigerian on its inaugural speech that granting a local government autonomy is one of its priority.

    “It very difficult to see a local government embarked on gigantic project because of paucity of fund. But I am not saying that meaningful projects are not carried out by some of us especially in Abuja but we go to extra mile to be able to do that in our localities, for example AMAC was able to embarked upon and completed merger road projects at AMVE, 5 kilometers road at Orozo, Kabusa and a bridge at Gwagwalape only because of the passion to alleviate the suffering of the rural dwellers.

    “So if there is independence in the Nigerian local government we will do more and the burden of less development at the grassroots level will be finally lifted”

    He therefore, called on well meaning Nigerians to support the idea of the local government autonomy in order to ensure that dividend of democracy in this administration is delivered to the people of Nigeria.

    Jiba also expressed gratitude’s to speaker of the House of representatives Rt. Hon. Yakubu Dogara for using his office to solicit support for the local government autonomy and adding that if actualized his name will be written bold in gold when Nigeria history is written again.

    He further prayed the Almighty God to continue to give the speaker of the House the needed wisdom to deliver the mandates to the people of Nigeria and concluded that the 774 local of Nigeria represented by ALGON has concluded plans to pay the speaker of the Nigerian House of Assembly a courtesy visit in no distant time.

  • Union demands probe of governors over judiciary’s autonomy

    Union demands probe of governors over judiciary’s autonomy

    The Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN) has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to probe governors who are against financial autonomy for the judiciary.

    Rising from its National Executive Council (NEC) meeting  in Abuja, JUSUN said the governor’s action amounted to floating the constitution and court order.

    According to a communique signed by the President, Comrade Marwan Mustapha Adamu and General Secretary, Isaiah Adetola, corruption can be reduced if judiciary is granted financial autonomy.

    The union said it had raised a committee on the matter.

  • ‘Council autonomy will spur growth’

    ‘Council autonomy will spur growth’

    The chairman of Kwali Area Council, Hon Ibrahim Daniel has said that local government autonomy as well as abolishing the joint state and local government system will stimulate development at the grassroots.

    Reacting to the report of the autonomy granted by Kaduna State Governor Mallam Nasir el-Rufai to local governments in the state and the abolition of joint state and local government system, Daniel urged more states in the country to follow suit as it will bring development to the doorsteps of the people.

    “The governor of Kaduna State is replicating what he saw as a minister in the FCT. He met one of the best practices of FCT administration and decided to take it to his state. The area council account in FCT has been an autonomous account. Whatever FCT administration generates, 10 per cent goes to the area councils. If other states will follow suit, it will bring development will be seen at the door step of the people.

    “Whatever money that is meant for the councils should be giving to them so that the development will reach to the people.  For me, there should be only two tiers of government in the country, the local government and the federal government. The state does not have a jurisdiction, they exist under the local government. What you see is the capital centre being developed while the local government are left on their own,” he said.

    He expressed sadness that in most states, development was only recorded in the city capital adding that it was bad as the state fund should be equitable distributed so that development will be for everyone.

    “The state funds are meant for equitable distribution. If more local government created, they will deal with the people in the grass root and federal government have to do with international issues, the military and other issues,” he said.

     

  • Council chair makes case for autonomy

    The chairman of Kwali area council, Hon Ibrahim Daniel has stated that the autonomy for local governments in the states and abolishing of joint state and local government system, would help bring about development at the grassroots.

    Daniel who was speaking in an interview stated that the local government autonomy if implemented, will bring positive transformation to the lives of the people at the grass root.

    Reacting to the report of the autonomy granted by  Kaduna State Governor, Mallam  Nasir El-Rufai  for local governments in the state and the abolishing of joint state and local government system, Daniel urged more states in the country to follow suit as it will no doubt bring development to the door step of the people.

    “The governor of Kaduna State is replicating what he as a minister saw in FCT. He met one of the best practice of FCT administration and decided to take it to his state. The area council account in FCT have been an autonomous account. Whatever FCT administration generates, 10 per cent goes to the area councils. If other states will follow suit, It will bring development will be seen at the door step of the people.

    “Whatever money that is meant for the councils should be giving to them so that the developemnt will reach to the people.  For me, there should be only two tiers of government in the country, the local government and the federal government. The state does not have a jurisdiction, they exist under the local government. What you see is the capital center being developed while the local government are let on their own,” he said.

    He expressed sadness that in most states, development was only recorded in the city capital adding that it was bad as the state fund should be equitable distributed so that development will be for everyone.

    “The state funds are meant for equitable distribution. If more local government created, they will deal with the people in the grass root and federal government have to do with international issues, the military and other issues,” he said.

     

  • Awo, Amosun and LG autonomy

    SIR: I wish to add my voice to the on-going debate on local government autonomy in Nigeria which has gained national lime light since the reins of power was passed on to President Muhammad Buhari on May 29.

    In the past few weeks, Ogun State Governor, Ibikunle Amosun has been a delight to men of reason in Ogun State in particular and Nigeria in general for his insistence on local government autonomy in the country. He has spoken unambiguously on this issue. He is a lone voice of wisdom among the 36 governors in the country who has taken up the gauntlet on the issue. For this attribute, he is following the footsteps of Chief Obafemi Awolowo who tackled the issue of federalism head on.

    The name of Chief Awolowo was encrusted in gold for championing the political restructuring of Nigeria through his call for a federal system of government. The principle of federalism as enshrined the current Nigerian constitution was rooted in the pressure that Chief Awolowo and other progressive contemporaries brought to bear against a centrist government in the 1950s and 1960s.

    Same way, the name of Senator Amosun will be written in gold among the exponents of local government autonomy in Nigeria. The tenacity with which Chief Awolowo championed the principle of federalism as desirable for the progress of the country is the same tenacity deplored by Senator Amosun to root for local government autonomy in Nigeria.

    The principle of federalism places the responsibility of decision making on the federating units rather than allow the central government decide on issues that impinge directly on the people. Similarly, local government autonomy being promoted by Senator Amosun will bring government nearer to the people and local constituencies in the country.

    These two structures of government, federalism and local government autonomy, are like twins born of same mother. Therefore, it is an anathema of the highest order to find federalism in the statutes books of the country while local government autonomy is jettisoned.

     

    • Wole Elegbede

    Imeko, Ogun State

  • Amosun and LG autonomy

    Ogun State governor, Ibikunle Amosun struck the right chord last week when he lent his weight to the agitation for local government autonomy in the country. That was not all. He equally had pricking words for those of his colleagues opposed to it.

    Hear him: “I support local government autonomy. The autonomy issue is in my own interest. Some governors said that granting autonomy to local governments will not favour them. Those governors that the autonomy thing will not favour are those governors that deduct from local government funds”.

    He has said it all. Apparently drawing from President Buhari’s inaugural speech in which he promised to ensure probity and accountability at all tiers of government, Amosun touched the heart of the matter when he fingered duplicity as the leitmotif for some of his colleagues’ opposition to autonomy. Now one of theirs has spoken so forthrightly on the issue, we can now fathom why the local governments in many states have proved incapable of rising up to their statutory duties.

    In that speech, Buhari had said that though there are constitutional limits to the powers of the three tiers of government, he would not close his eyes to what is happening at the states and local governments especially with the operations of the Joint Account.

    This has been interpreted by many as an indication that the era of state governors unduly dipping their hands into the funds of the local governments will soon be over. That will be a great relief. No doubt, the joint account system has been variously abused. Instead of the process ensuring that funds meant for the local governments are deployed for meaningful development, some of the governors have turned round to appropriate them for purposes other than that for which they were meant for.

    What we have seen since the return of democracy in 1999, is a situation in which the state governors appropriate these funds and only remit to the local councils any amount it pleased them. This has left the local governments increasingly incapable of discharging their statutory functions.

    Not unexpectedly, agitations have arisen regarding the desirability of the joint account system in the face of the interferences and withholding of funds meant for the development of the local governments. That has also been the basis for the raging demands for local government autonomy. Not only do the state governments through the powers conferred on the state assemblies by Section (7) of the constitution incapacitate the effective operations of the councils, some have gone ahead to reduce their tenure to enable them take charge of the funds accruing from the federation account.

    The first set of elected local government officials in 1999 were supposed to serve for three years. Since then, state assemblies, goaded by the governors have reduced such tenure, some of them to one year. Even then, local government elections are rarely held and when it pleases them to do so, it is at the whims and caprices of the state governments. What has been in vogue is the aberration called transition committees- a subterfuge for handpicking local government functionaries who do the bidding of the governors. This is so despite the fact that the constitution guarantees a local government system by democratically elected local government councils.

    Questions have been raised as to the desirability of retaining the local governments as the third tier of government in the face of the refusal of some governors to have in place democratically elected councils. Constant interference with local government funds by governors has also been an issue. The continued relevance of the joint account system given that its operations have been at cross purposes with the spirits guiding the delineation of the councils as the third tier of government has also come under serious challenge. All these are clear indications that our local government system is sick and therefore in urgent need of a dose of therapy both on a short and long terms.

    Those opposed to the independence of the local government base their arguments on some warped, unverifiable and tenuous grounds. They allege among others, immaturity of the local governments and their leadership to be left unchecked by the state governments. They also cite aspects of the constitution that empowers the state government through the state assemblies to regulate operations at that level.

    The issue of immaturity is neither here nor there. At best, such a sweeping conclusion is nothing but a figment of educated guess. Sadly, empiricism places very low value on matters of educated guess.

    The conclusion runs into bigger problem if it conveys the impression that state governors are better managers of funds and their mentoring is required for effective deployment of local government funds. This suggestion pales into insignificance when weighed against the monumental corruption that goes on at the state levels.

    Just last week, the EFCC rolled out a list of governors who served between 1999 and 2007 that are currently facing prosecution. It also reeled out some of the properties so far recovered from some of them. Both the number of former governors under trial, the quantum of property and money involved put a lie to any claim that they are better managers of public funds. There is therefore no justifiable reason why they should be allowed to continue appropriating local government funds to help themselves. The spirit of the joint account system has been abused and bastardized by some state governors for self-serving reasons. That has been the basis for their continued opposition to local government autonomy. That is the point Amosun has put very succinctly and he spoke the minds of many.

    Moreover, the local government system has been recognized as the fastest vehicle to convey development to the grassroots. This is especially so, as the boundaries of the 774 local governments coincide with the boundaries of this country. Thus, any development strategy that effectively targets that level of government with a high degree of success, would ipso facto translate to the development of the entire country.

    That underscores the importance of the local government system. It is for the same reason that more discerning and enterprising states have gone further to create local government development centres. It would therefore smack of a huge contradiction for state governors that have gone ahead to create development centres because of their capacity to quicken development, to now turn around and oppose local government autonomy. That was the background from which Amosun was speaking.

    If the immaturity of the local governments being bandied is referenced upon the quality of leadership at that level, the governors are solely to blame. They are to blame for handpicking surrogates and all manner of stooges to stand for elections that have been predetermined by the so-called state independent electoral commissions. They are to blame for not allowing real elections to take place at that level. So if the competences of the elected or appointed local government officials are in doubt, the governors should take the blame. They cannot turn around and hide under some of the monsters they created to fault the capacity and ability of that system to function optimally.

  • ‘States should enforce judicial autonomy’

    ‘States should enforce judicial autonomy’

    Mr Uwemedimo Nwoko is the Akwa Ibom State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice. An activist-lawyer, he was called to bar in 1992 and was in private legal practice until his appointment. He tells JOSEPH JIBUEZE his plans for the justice sector.

    You challenged the former Governor Victor Attah administration over some constitutional issues. Have things changed now?

    I have always insisted on compliance with the Constitution. The autonomy for each of the three organs of government and the three tiers of government in Nigeria are constitutional. They are not things that are left to the whims and caprices of individuals. I do insist there should be autonomy for these organs and tiers of government. Fortunately for me, we are one of the few states that comply with the constitutional provision of giving autonomy to the judiciary even before the judgment in favour of the judiciary staff. That is why Justice Ademola struck out our names after we applied and showed evidence that we have already complied with the provision of the Constitution in respect of giving autonomy to the judiciary. That is why we are not bound by that judgment. I am lucky to come from a state where the independence of the judiciary had already been applied even before judiciary staff at the national level went to court.

    What was your case for councils?

    I have always maintained that the local governments should be made to stand as an independent tier of government in terms of managing their finances and my position has not changed. My opinion is that the law, Section 162 of the Constitution, as it stands makes it is very clear that the finances of the local government should be paid directly to the local governments. This joint account manipulation by some states is what is creating a problem. All that we need to have are governments at the various levels sitting down and ensuring the application of that law. It would be nice to have a system where local governments have their funds directly paid to them, even if it goes through the Joint Account as it is being operated. All that is needed to be done is for the local governments to come out with their own format. I have attended Joint Account meeting in Akwa Ibom and I saw that they all discussed and agreed on modalities they want to apply. I believe that as far as Akwa Ibom is concerned that position is being applied. It may not be the same with other states.

    Your appointment came as the Governor Godswill Akpabio administration is winding down. What impact can you make with the short time?

    Well, the administration of the Chief Godswill Obot Akpabio is actually winding down, but the government of Akwa Ibom State is not. There is still work to be done. As far as the business of the government is concerned, every minute is material. There is still a lot of room to make impact in the administration, and I am very grateful to Governor Akpabio for giving me the opportunity even for this brief period to be part of the success story of his administration.

    What areas of the justice sector would you like to focus on?

    The concerns of the Ministry of Justice as far justice delivery system is concerned are the protection of human rights, compliance with the rule of law and the Constitution and giving room for the citizens to enjoy the fundamental human rights. I was appointed into a government with excellent credentials as far as human right is concerned. There is room for improvement.

    What are these specific areas?

    I will be working toward further decongesting the prisons and our courts; to ensure that the rights of citizens are respected and that the rule of law is applied. Beyond that, I am working towards instituting a legal framework to enhance the performance of the staff of the Ministry of Justice in making contribution to the state’s justice delivery system. I have discovered that a lot of criminal cases run into difficult quarters in the cause of prosecution. I have decided to establish a synergy between the ministry and the police. There should be a monitoring of the police investigation so that whatever needs to be put in place are brought into place immediately.

    The three Attorney-Generals who served under Akpabio were said to have fallen out with him. Will you be different?

    All of them are entitled to their own rights and ambitions. They are people I respect to a great deal. In fact, I spoke on phone with my immediate predecessor, Ekpenyong Ntekim, and he promised me his assistance where and when necessary. I also believe that if in one way or the other there are some minor differences, it is part of the democratic processes. I can assure you that within a very short time all of them would come back and eat at the same table.

    It has been said that Attorneys-General abuse their powers. Is that true?

    If somebody says a particular Attorney-General is abusing the provision of nolle prosequi he should be able to give statistics and instances. I would not, for instance, use what happens in Lagos State to judge Kano State. Every individual state has its own peculiarity. If somebody is saying the Attorneys-General are abusing their powers, I think it is a wrong judgment. If somebody sites instances, with reference to the particular instances, we can then appraise the action of the Attorney-General in question. It is then that we can give an informed judgment of the action of that particular Attorney-General. Making such blanket statement is unfair to the Attorneys-General.

    Do you foresee a free and fair election in Akwa Ibom State?

    Governor Akpabio that I know is determined to have a free and fair election in the state and he is providing every facility and enablement, within the limit of his office, for that purpose. He would not mind who wins or loses. But as far as he is concerned, within the domestic arrangement of his political party and as a governor he is entitled to be interested in who should come out as a candidate of his political party and, possibly succeeds him. He would be a failed governor if he fails to take interest in who succeeds him but his interest would not influence the outcome of the general elections, which is to be conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). As a member of a political party, a loyal one for that matter, and in this case the Leader of the party in the state, he has the capacity and obligation to ensure that the primaries of his political party are held in a free and fair environment. The governor is determined to have free and fair election in the state and he is not going to influence the outcome of the elections. He will, within his capacity ensure that those who win are those the people actually want.

    Why were you in support of another national conference?

    I  am of the opinion that the most important issue that should had been placed on the table of the last National conference in Nigeria would have been for Nigerians to discuss their readiness or otherwise to remain together as people of one nation. That particular aspect which I see as the most important and critical was left out from the terms of reference of the last conference and what that means  is that we are going to come back to face that question. One day we would answer whether Nigerians are still ready to live together as people of one nation. If you check through the present electioneering and the incidents that follow them you would get to find out that there is still doubt as to the readiness of Nigerians to continue to live together as citizens of one indivisible, indissoluble sovereign nation. The questions again arise: Are we ready to bury our differences and past experiences and come together to work as a people of one nation? Are we still whipping and fanning the embers of discord? What has changed between 1914 when the amalgamation was done and today? What is the difference between the attitude of Nigerians after the civil war in 1970 and today? How have we been able to handle the issue of fiscal federalism? Have we been able to resolve the issue of resource control? Most of those things are treated on the surface superficially.

    How do you mean?

    The average Southsouth person, including myself, believes that the foundation of the Nigerian nation, which was formed under the Republican Constitution of 1963, was completely eroded by the intervention of the military in the Nigerian politics. I keep on referring Section 140 (1) of the 1963 Constitution which peg resource control at 50 per cent to the regions. The military came up and wiped it out and reduce it to zero. The Southsouth demanded at the last National Conference that it should be raised 25 per cent but the North fought it to a standstill and that issue was not resolved. Do you expect the Southsouth person to be happy? Instead of resolving our fundamental issues we keep managing them. The trouble is actually incubating; it is just becoming a more vicious and explosive time bomb waiting for its appropriate time to explode. There will definitely be another national conference.

     

  • ‘Judiciary’s financial autonomy non negotiable’

    ‘Judiciary’s financial autonomy non negotiable’

    The Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN) has said the strike by members of the union is an outcome of the government’s disregard for a judicial pronouncement by a court of competent jurisdiction.

    The Union said it is a product of a chain of broken promises by the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (AGF), state governments and other appropriate government agencies.

    The Union, in a statement signed by the General Secretary, Dr. Peter Ozo-Eson, said over a year ago, a Court of competent jurisdiction entered a judgment in favour of JUSUN by directing the AGF to deduct money and pay the National Judicial Council as part of the process of directly funding the Judiciary, which in the Union’s view further strengthens the nation’s democracy.

    He said: “It needs no stating that for the development of our democracy, we need strong institutions, a truly independent Judiciary in de jure and de facto terms. Since the judgment, as many as seven Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) with government (arising from countless meetings) have been signed”.

    The statement said that in spite of serial breaches by government and its agencies, JUSUN had continually displayed remarkable understanding and uncommon maturity. According to the secretary, the direct funding of the Judiciary is a constitutional right, which has been further strengthened by a judicial pronouncement.

    “We, therefore, call on the AGF and all the Attorneys-General of the states to respect this judgment. It is saddening that these law officers are seen to be breaking the law in such a brazen manner and at a time like this,” he said.

  • NULGE faults teachers’ stand on autonomy

    NULGE faults teachers’ stand on autonomy

    The Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) has faulted the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) for supporting calls for local government areas not to be given financial autonomy.

    NULGE President, Comrade Ibraheem Khaleel, in a briefing in his office in Abuja, said NUT has failed to do a thorough job on who to blame for teachers’ problems, stressing that the constitutional responsibility of the local government area is participatory.

    He said other tiers of government also contribute in paying primary school teachers and that both unions had agreed to send a proposal to the National Assembly for primary school teachers to be paid directly from the federation account so that the local government can use its funds to carry out its other functions when it gets full autonomy.

    His words: “But if teachers because of their fear for their salaries are now saying there must be no democracy in local government, then they are not doing justice to other sectors in the local government. We made several attempts to make the leadership of NUT understand and come to roundtable with NULGE with a view to fashion out ways to address the issue of primary school teachers as well as making local government functional.”

    The NULGE Chief also said the Union held meetings under the supervision of NLC’s leadership and that at some point they reached a consensus, which NULGE accommodated in its memos and all its submissions to government and the National Assembly to the effect that NULGE does not have any problem with making primary teachers’ salary first line charge.

    “So, if NUT is still hammering on the fact that local government system should be abandoned just because of their salary, in my opinion that is selfish. The truth is no democracy anywhere around the world can grow without a vibrant system of local government because the independence of each individual citizen lies in the independence of each local government,” he said.

  • Niger Assembly endorses local govt autonomy

    The Niger State House of Assembly has voted in favour of local government autonomy.

    It also agreed to the scrapping of the state independent electoral commission and endorsed the financial autonomy for Houses of Assembly to enhance legislative activities.

    All the 71 amended sections forwarded to the Assembly for consideration by the National Assembly were endorsed by the lawmakers after three days of legislative sessions.

    Speaker Adamu Usman said the Assembly’s decisions on the amended sections were meant to deepen democratic institutions.

    He said the review and amendments were tedious because they required courage among the lawmakers so that when the amendments would be ratified in the next five to 10 years, the Constitution should not be blamed for lapses.

    Usman explained that for the lawmakers to understand each of the amended items, the Assembly held executive and plenary sessions.

    The Speaker hailed his colleagues for their patriotic and courageous efforts during the job, which he said was in consonance with democratic tenets.

    He stressed that the amendments being sought in the Constitution were in tandem with modern democratic realities.

    Usman said: “If the autonomy of the local governments gets two-thirds ‘Yes’ votes by legislators, they would not only be collecting their funds directly from the Federal Government but their elections would be conducted by the independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).”