The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Autonomy

  • Coalition kicks against local govt’s autonomy

    •Honours Suswam’s aide

    THE Coalition of Civil Society Organisation For Transparency in Governance (CCSOTG) has kicked against local government autonomy, saying it is against the principle of check and balance.

    President of the coaliation, Jacobs Osaji, argued that granting autonomy to local councils will exacerbate corruption at the grassroots.

    He spoke while presenting the Transparency Watch Award to Prince Solomon Tor-Wombo, the Special Adviser Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs to Benue State governor, Gabriel Suswam.

    Osaji said existing laws should be strengthened for local councils to live up to their responsibilities.

    He called on the National Assembly to reject the proposed local council autonomy to prevent abuse.

    The group stated that the “Prince of Sankera”, who is the head of the local government administration in Benue State, deserved the award having distinguished himself in office and lived above board.

    Tor-Womb noted that payment of salaries in councils in Benue State remains a top priority, insisting that chairmen in the state have been up and doing because it is no longer business as usual.

     

  • Still on local government autonomy

    SIR: The Guideline for Local Government Reform (FGN, 1976) defines local government as government aat local level exercised through representative councils established by law to exercise specific powers defined areas. These powers should give the council substantial control over local affairs as well as the staff and institutional and financial power to initiate and direct the provision of services and to determine and implement projects so as to complement the activities of the state and federal government in their areas, and to ensure, through devolution of functions to these councils and through the active participation of the people and their traditional institutes , that local initiative and responses to local head and conditions are maximised.

    The implications of the above definitions are in four dimensions: Local government must be a legal entity distinct from the state and federal government; it must be administered by democratically elected officials; it must have specific powers to perform a range of functions assigned it by law; and it must enjoy substantial autonomy to perform array of functions, plan, formulate and execute its own policies, programmes and projects, and its own rules and regulations as deemed for its local needs.

    Autonomy of the local government includes power to control its finance, recruit and discipline its staff. Based on these definitions, and their implications, could it be said that the local government system in Nigeria is autonomous? Absolutely not. The 1976 local government reform also conceptualised local government as the third tier of government operating with a common institutional framework with defined functions and responsibilities. As a third tier of government (105 International Journal of Advanced Legal Studies and Governance Vol. 1 No.1, April 2010), local government gets its statutory share of allocation direct from the Federation account and it is empowered to exercise control over it’s spending. The states, especially, abused some provisions of the 1979 Constitution to suit their selfish desires. State governments neglected or voided aspects of the 1976 Reforms that they were displeased with and distorted those that were merely inconvenient.

    The fact is that, rural communities across the country are in abject poverty and state governments have not done anything to alleviate the suffering of the rural people. There is no rural community, not even local government headquarter, that can boast of these four basic needs of life; water, electricity, primary education and primary healthcare centre that are working optimally. The excuses have been that, the state claims it is the responsibility of the local government to provide these amenities while the local government say they lack financial power to execute such projects thereby leaving over 70% of the nation’s population orchestrating between hope and despair amidst of plenty.

    Some states in Nigeria even pay state salary from the local government allocation and then leave a paltry sum which cannot pay local government staff. How then can they execute projects? The quest for rural transformation can only be realized when local governments become autonomous.

    • Onogwu Isah Muhammed,

    Lokoja, Kogi State

  • Reps okay council autonomy

    Reps okay council autonomy

    The House of Representatives has voted in favour of local government autonomy.

    The lawmakers also voted overwhelmingly for the simplification of the process of state creation.

    The result of the voting was announced by the Clerk of the House as directed by the Speaker, Aminu Tambuwal at 10.34pm.

    As a result of the murmurs that accompanied the first result from some parts of the floor, the Speaker intervened by informing the lawmakers that the Clerk was not having the titles of the clauses in the result he was reading out.

    The Speaker took it upon himself to read out the titles of the clauses before the Clerk announced the result.

    Out of the 339 lawmakers that voted for council’s autonomy, 293 voted yes, 39 voted no and seven abstained.

  • LG autonomy: NULGE seeks partnership with PSI

    LG autonomy: NULGE seeks partnership with PSI

    President, Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE), Comrade Ibrahim Khaleel, has called on Public Service International (PSI) to collaborate with the union to strengthen the local government system in Nigeria.

    Khaleel made the appeal when the General Secretary of PSI, Rosamaria Pavanelli, who was on a working visit in Nigeria visited NULGE’s headquarters in Abuja.

    Khaleel said: “Our members are spread across the country and play a very great role in stabilising the country but we face many constraints both constitutional and unfortunately, because of the greed of governors, local governments are finding it difficult to operate.

    “But we must work together to make it strong and viable. The local government is the only hope the rural populace have with regards to good governance and opportunities. However, we are hopeful of a positive future.

    “In November 2012, the National Assembly organised public hearings across the length and breadth of the nation and the outcome is that support for autonomy is almost 98 per cent. Our agitation is gathering momentum.

    “For that reason, we call on the PSI to join in the struggle to emancipate the local government system because it is the one closest to the people and the only tier of government where real masses have access to governance.”

    On her part, Sister Rosamaria pledged to work with NULGE to ensure that the local government remains financially autonomous for it to carry out its functions

    “We, at the PSI, are in contact with the ILO to develop a new line of activity for the strengthening of the local governments,” she said.

  • Will Houses of Assembly get financial autonomy?

    Will Houses of Assembly get financial autonomy?

    Will the proposal for the financial autonomy for the Houses of Assembly see the light of the day as the National Assembly is set to review the 1999 Constitution? ONYEDI OJIABOR writes on the controversy surrounding the proposal.

    As the Senate resumes for plenary session one of the items on the agenda is the report of its committee on the review of the 1999 Constitution.

    Expectedly, the recommendations of the Constitution Review Committee (CRC) have continued to attract mixed reactions.

    Intense lobbying by interest groups, geo-political zones and political blocs is in top gear. While some stakeholders have given their nod to most of the recommendations, others have picked holes in some of the recommendations.

    The recommendations covers the devolution of powers, creation of more states, recognition of the six geo-political zones in the constitution, constitutional role for traditional rulers, and local government.

    The need to expung the Land Use Act, the National Youth Serve Corps Act, and the Public Complaints Commission Act from the Constitution, and the National Security Agencies Act, fiscal federalism, amendment of provisions relating to amendment of the Constitution and boundary adjustment are other areas the committee covered in its report.

    The Immunity Clause, Nigerian Police, judicial reforms, rotation of executive offices, gender and special groups, mayoral status for the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) , residency and indigene provisions and autonomy for state assemblies also received the attention of the committee.

    The opinions differ sharply on most of the recommendations of the committee. However, one recommendation which appears to have received maximum support is the proposal for financial autonomy to the State Houses of Assembly.

    Section 121, which deals with creation of first line charge for certain bodies and offices at the state level said, states that: “To engender accountability and efficient service delivery, a provision is made for State Houses of Assembly, State Independent Electoral Commissions, Auditor-General of the State and the Attorney-General of a State to get their funding directly from the State Consolidated Revenue Fund.”

    Instructively, the Constitution Review Committee decided to revisit the issue of financial autonomy to state assemblies, maybe to give the state assemblies a second chance to gain their independence.

    During the last amendment of the Constitution, there was a proposal to ensure that the State Houses of Assembly get their funding directly through first line charge.

    The two chambers of the National Assembly adopted the clause after due deliberation of the need to strengthen the workings of the state assemblies.

    The aim was essentially to give the legislative arm in the states some level of financial independence and empower them to serve their people better.

    The clause was applauded by most Nigerians who saw financial autonomy to state assemblies as a move to deepen the principle of separation of powers at the state level.

    Rather than seize the opportunity with both hands, it was bungled by the same people the clause was designed to empower.

    Some governors were said to have mobilised and recruited members of their state assemblies into willing tools to shoot down the clause.

    The clause required the support of the two-third of the state assemblies to pass the law.

    The implication is that 24 out of the 36 Houses of Assembly must support the clause to pass. Curiously, only 23 State Houses of Assembly supported it. It failed to the perpetual shame of those who opposed freedom. State Houses of Assemblies gained notoriety by this singular act of voting to remain in bondage.

    As most issues in the country, the true story of state assemblies that voted to remain under the jackboot of their governors is not known.

    The only thing known is that a certain State House of Assembly in the North West geo-political zone, which had already endorsed the clause, rushed to the National Assembly, a day before the consideration of returns from state assemblies, to withdraw its endorsement.

    The governor of the particular state was said to have threatened to “deal” with the speaker of the House if he failed to withdraw the endorsement of the clause. It was laughable you may say.

    But this is Nigeria , the wonder land, where the unthinkable and absurd happen; a place where a show of shame is glibly glossed over.

    Observers have been asking what went wrong. Ever seen a slave granted unconditional freedom on a platter of gold, who rather than embrace his independence, prefers to be in chains. Another opportunity for the state assemblies to free themselves from the apron string of state governors has come calling.

    The National Assembly has once again come to the rescue by unanimously proposing financial autonomy for state assemblies in the ongoing constitution amendment. Will the state assemblies take the opportunity? Will they choose to remain the official rubber stamp of the governors at the expense of the electorate? Will they through some bogus and spurious vote, elect to act ignominiously like they did during the previous constitution review exercise? These are the questions begging for answers? Only time will tell.

    Already, the State Assemblies Speakers Forum has thrown its weight behind the clause.

    The Forum stated its position at the Asaba retreat and during the zonal hearing on Constitution amendment. There are indications that the Forum has constituted a lobby group to prevail on the National Assembly to ensure that the clause sails through.

    The Forum has assured Nigerians both at home and in the diaspora that it will no longer be business as usual. Opportunity, they say, comes but once. For the state assemblies, they have a second chance. Second chance to say, yes we concur to be free from being manipulated by governors.

    If feelers from the Speaker, Abia State House of Assembly, Chief Ude Oko-Chukwu, are any thing to go by, the state assemblies may have woken from their deep slumber.

    Oko-Chukwu was reported to have assured that the State House of Assembly would vote in favour of financial and political autonomy of state assemblies as proposed by the National Assembly.

    He was also quoted to have said that Abia House of Assembly is favourably disposed to other areas of amendment such as granting first line charge to the state electoral commissions, auditor-general of the state and Attorney General of the state. Before now, these are no go areas for State Houses of Assemblies.

    Oko-Chukwu was reported to have spoken when members of the State Accountability and Voice Initiative visited the House in Umuahia, the State capital.

    He agreed that these were vital areas to the development and growth of democracy as such autonomy would strengthen democratic institutions.

    The speaker gave insight into why the first attempt to grant financial autonomy to State Houses of Assembly failed.

    For him, the first attempt failed because the state assemblies felt they were not properly carried along by the National Assembly in the exercise.

    But he added that the House he presides over, voted for financial autonomy of state assemblies because they realised its importance and the need to vote in favour of the clause.

    Will the recalcitrant state assemblies take a cue from Abia State House of Assembly and others like it?

    While presenting the report of the committee, Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, said constitution review is a continuous process and has been on the front burner of national discourse since 1999.

    “This has been so, especially after the last National Assembly successfully passed three sets of alterations to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999.

    “It is in this light that the Senate Committee on the review of the 1999 Constitution adopted an incremental approach to constitutional changes.

    “Previous alterations have undoubtedly deepened our democratic ethos by confronting outstanding problems and addressing glaring omissions. At the same time those alterations have generated momentum for continuing review,” Ekweremadu said.

    The purpose of the exercise, he said, is to remove contradictions and ambiguities, supply omissions, and make the Constitution more practical and relevant to the needs of Nigerians in the twenty-first century.

    The members of the review committee, he added, were at all times motivated by what is best for Nigeria .

  • Will Houses of Assembly get financial autonomy?

    Will Houses of Assembly get financial autonomy?

    Will the proposal for the financial autonomy for the Houses of Assembly see the light of the day as the National Assembly is set to review the 1999 Constitution? ONYEDI OJIABOR writes on the controversy surrounding the proposal.

     

     

    As the Senate resumes for plenary session today, one of the items on the agenda is the report of its committee on the review of the 1999 Constitution.

    Expectedly, the recommendations of the Constitution Review Committee (CRC) have continued to attract mixed reactions.

    Intense lobbying by interest groups, geo-political zones and political blocs is in top gear. While some stakeholders have given their nod to most of the recommendations, others have picked holes in some of the recommendations.

    The recommendations covers the devolution of powers, creation of more states, recognition of the six geo-political zones in the constitution, constitutional role for traditional rulers, and local government.

    The need to expung the Land Use Act, the National Youth Serve Corps Act, and the Public Complaints Commission Act from the Constitution, and the National Security Agencies Act, fiscal federalism, amendment of provisions relating to amendment of the Constitution and boundary adjustment are other areas the committee covered in its report.

    The Immunity Clause, Nigerian Police, judicial reforms, rotation of executive offices, gender and special groups, mayoral status for the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) , residency and indigene provisions and autonomy for state assemblies also received the attention of the committee.

    The opinions differ sharply on most of the recommendations of the committee. However, one recommendation which appears to have received maximum support is the proposal for financial autonomy to the State Houses of Assembly.

    Section 121, which deals with creation of first line charge for certain bodies and offices at the state level said, states that: “To engender accountability and efficient service delivery, a provision is made for State Houses of Assembly, State Independent Electoral Commissions, Auditor-General of the State and the Attorney-General of a State to get their funding directly from the State Consolidated Revenue Fund.”

    Instructively, the Constitution Review Committee decided to revisit the issue of financial autonomy to state assemblies, maybe to give the state assemblies a second chance to gain their independence.

    During the last amendment of the Constitution, there was a proposal to ensure that the State Houses of Assembly get their funding directly through first line charge.

    The two chambers of the National Assembly adopted the clause after due deliberation of the need to strengthen the workings of the state assemblies.

    The aim was essentially to give the legislative arm in the states some level of financial independence and empower them to serve their people better.

    The clause was applauded by most Nigerians who saw financial autonomy to state assemblies as a move to deepen the principle of separation of powers at the state level.

    Rather than seize the opportunity with both hands, it was bungled by the same people the clause was designed to empower.

    Some governors were said to have mobilised and recruited members of their state assemblies into willing tools to shoot down the clause.

    The clause required the support of the two-third of the state assemblies to pass the law.

    The implication is that 24 out of the 36 Houses of Assembly must support the clause to pass. Curiously, only 23 State Houses of Assembly supported it. It failed to the perpetual shame of those who opposed freedom. State Houses of Assemblies gained notoriety by this singular act of voting to remain in bondage.

    As most issues in the country, the true story of state assemblies that voted to remain under the jackboot of their governors is not known.

    The only thing known is that a certain State House of Assembly in the North West geo-political zone, which had already endorsed the clause, rushed to the National Assembly, a day before the consideration of returns from state assemblies, to withdraw its endorsement.

    The governor of the particular state was said to have threatened to “deal” with the speaker of the House if he failed to withdraw the endorsement of the clause. It was laughable you may say.

    But this is Nigeria , the wonder land, where the unthinkable and absurd happen; a place where a show of shame is glibly glossed over.

    Observers have been asking what went wrong. Ever seen a slave granted unconditional freedom on a platter of gold, who rather than embrace his independence, prefers to be in chains. Another opportunity for the state assemblies to free themselves from the apron string of state governors has come calling.

    The National Assembly has once again come to the rescue by unanimously proposing financial autonomy for state assemblies in the ongoing constitution amendment. Will the state assemblies take the opportunity? Will they choose to remain the official rubber stamp of the governors at the expense of the electorate? Will they through some bogus and spurious vote, elect to act ignominiously like they did during the previous constitution review exercise? These are the questions begging for answers? Only time will tell.

    Already, the State Assemblies Speakers Forum has thrown its weight behind the clause.

    The Forum stated its position at the Asaba retreat and during the zonal hearing on Constitution amendment. There are indications that the Forum has constituted a lobby group to prevail on the National Assembly to ensure that the clause sails through.

    The Forum has assured Nigerians both at home and in the diaspora that it will no longer be business as usual. Opportunity, they say, comes but once. For the state assemblies, they have a second chance. Second chance to say, yes we concur to be free from being manipulated by governors.

    If feelers from the Speaker, Abia State House of Assembly, Chief Ude Oko-Chukwu, are any thing to go by, the state assemblies may have woken from their deep slumber.

    Oko-Chukwu was reported to have assured that the State House of Assembly would vote in favour of financial and political autonomy of state assemblies as proposed by the National Assembly.

    He was also quoted to have said that Abia House of Assembly is favourably disposed to other areas of amendment such as granting first line charge to the state electoral commissions, auditor-general of the state and Attorney General of the state. Before now, these are no go areas for State Houses of Assemblies.

    Oko-Chukwu was reported to have spoken when members of the State Accountability and Voice Initiative visited the House in Umuahia, the State capital.

    He agreed that these were vital areas to the development and growth of democracy as such autonomy would strengthen democratic institutions.

    The speaker gave insight into why the first attempt to grant financial autonomy to State Houses of Assembly failed.

    For him, the first attempt failed because the state assemblies felt they were not properly carried along by the National Assembly in the exercise.

    But he added that the House he presides over, voted for financial autonomy of state assemblies because they realised its importance and the need to vote in favour of the clause.

    Will the recalcitrant state assemblies take a cue from Abia State House of Assembly and others like it?

    While presenting the report of the committee, Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, said constitution review is a continuous process and has been on the front burner of national discourse since 1999.

    “This has been so, especially after the last National Assembly successfully passed three sets of alterations to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999.

    “It is in this light that the Senate Committee on the review of the 1999 Constitution adopted an incremental approach to constitutional changes.

    “Previous alterations have undoubtedly deepened our democratic ethos by confronting outstanding problems and addressing glaring omissions. At the same time those alterations have generated momentum for continuing review,” Ekweremadu said.

    The purpose of the exercise, he said, is to remove contradictions and ambiguities, supply omissions, and make the Constitution more practical and relevant to the needs of Nigerians in the twenty-first century.

    The members of the review committee, he added, were at all times motivated by what is best for Nigeria .

     

  • Autonomy, teachers hinder college’s accreditation

    As the Provost of the Anambra State College of Health Technology (ASCOHT), Obosi, Dr Maurice Chuks Agu administered matriculation oaths on 300 fresh students last Saturday, he urged Governor Peter Obi to facilitate the institution’s autonomy and employ more teachers.

    Though he praised Obi’s support and provision of learning facilities to the college, he lamented that lack of autonomy and employment of permanent lecturers were hindering the institution from securing final accreditation from various accreditation bodies.

    He said the government has provided the college with a functional library, well-equipped laboratories, extra classrooms, and hostels among others.

    Responding, the Anambra State Commissioner for Health, Dr Lawrence Ikeakor, represented by the permanent secretary, Dr Austin Nnalue, congratulated the students for scaling the admission process and assured them that the school will continue to get response from the government on their problems admitting that there is a great need to get capable hands that will keep up the number of intakes in the school.

    “Government is making sure that the resources required for final accreditation is in place, you will definitely get response from the government,” he assured.

    Nnalue, who praised the students for their good conduct, disclosed to their delight that the college has reached an understanding with the Federal University of Technology (FUTO) Owerri to admit suitable graduates for degree programmes.

    Addressing the students, the Provost urged the students to use their time wisely and shun all forms of anti-social vices as the college does not tolerate such.

    Agu further implored them to always explore legitimate ways of expressing their feelings without recourse to violence and destruction of public property.

    Some of the students expressed happiness that they were lucky to be among the 300 students admitted out of more than 2,000 applicants.

     

    They also thanked the government for providing learning facilities and constructing the road that leads to the college but called its attention to the problem of inadequate power and water supply which makes learning difficult.

     

  • Fashola’s thoughts on LG autonomy

    Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State will go down in history as one of the very few public officers in contemporary Nigeria who excels in not just building mortars and bricks but also in farsightedness. Fashola thinks profoundly and has the courage of his convictions. He could have chosen the path of populism by continuing the tradition of making tuition at Lagos State University practically free—without minding if the graduates would ever be employable because of the poor quality of instruction and the awful lack of critical facilities arising out of scarce financial resources —but he opted for the trajectory of sustainable development through a review of tuition fees. When a large army of political actors in the South-west were playing to the gallery by denouncing Chinua Achebe’s There Was A Country, a personal account of the Nigerian civil war, Fashola attended an Achebe event in the United States where he positively reviewed the novelist’s oeuvre, declaring that his (Fashola’s) generation of Nigerians is not held hostage by the error of the past. The governor once again displayed the courage of his convictions when at the 80th birthday anniversary of former Works Minister Femi Okunnu held on February 4, he eloquently argued that the concept of constitutionally guaranteed autonomy for local governments in the country is fundamentally flawed.

    It has become fashionable since 1989 when Sam Orji was removed by the Federal Military Government as chairman of the Enugu Local Government for the media, activist groups and even academics to demand a constitutional provision for LG autonomy. After all, argue the protagonists, there are three tiers of government in Nigeria and the constitution has ensured that states are independent of the central government and vice versa. Indeed, it amounts to extravagant use of language to declare LGs the third tier of government. A federal system everywhere is composed of only two government tiers, namely, the federal government and state governments (which are called provincial governments in Canada and regional governments in Nigeria until 1967). The United Kingdom has a local government system all right, but the country runs a unitary system of government. LGs are more of administrative units than political entities. This is why LGs do not have the judiciary, a vital arm of government. Fashola appropriately calls them development centres.

    It is a supreme irony that socio-political activists who spearhead the campaign for constitutionally provided autonomy for LGs are the very elements campaigning against the inclusion of LGs in the constitution on the ground that it should be the prerogative of states to decide whether to have LGs in their territories and the number as well as the structure, based on peculiarities of the states and their development needs. The present national uniform LG structure, a concomitant of the 1976 LG Reforms carried out by the General Obasanjo military government, is counterproductive. The current structure does not recognize differences between LGs in cities and those in rural communities. Hence, it provides, for instance, for a supervisor of agriculture in Lagos Island Local Government Area which does not have one single farm!

    Much as LGs are in theory development centres, the development quotient in their creation has been abysmal; rather, the overriding consideration has been politics. Lagos has the highest population of all states in Nigeria. Yet, it has a mere 20 constitutionally recognized LGAs, in sharp contrast to Kano, which has 44 LGAs. The reason is not difficult to understand: the last LGs were created by the central government during the Sani Abacha military regime. Abacha, a Kano indigene, made sure that the number of LGs in Kano and Jigawa (which was carved out of Kano in 1996) is about all LGAs in the South-east geopolitical zone combined!

    When it is considered that LGs are allocated huge revenues monthly from the federation account, the political economy of Abacha’s LG creation exercise becomes clearer. To address some of the far-reaching implications of the imbalance in local governments across the country, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, as Lagos governor, created additional 37 LGs in one fell swoop which he called local development centres, bringing the total number of LGAs in the state to 57. In a swift reaction, the Kano State government increased the number of its LGAs astronomically to overwhelm the new number in Lagos. In other words, the nation is in a rat race with itself because of the inclusion of LGAs in the present constitution and the consequent allocation of resources from the federation account. The removal of LGAs from the constitution will end this debilitating brand of politics.

    The 774 constitutionally recognized LGAs are too unwieldy for the nation. They are, at best, cost centres and, at worst, cesspools of graft and duty dereliction. I have been to a number of local government offices in recent years, and for some reason never met the legislators who are called councillors. The councillors go to the office only at month end to collect salary and share whatever remains of public resources with other senior officials. Most Nigerians do not know that every LG has, among other key officers, a secretary to the government, a head of service called head of personnel management and supervisors who are like commissioners or ministers. Each appointee is on a heavy pay and has a retinue of aides. Worse, some states have gone ahead to create local development centres (which are LGs in disguise), and they share the monthly resources from the federation account on an equal basis with constitutionally recognized LGs. Instead of having one chairman in a given LGA, there are now about four. This has great implications for the public treasury. Far from these centres being catalysts or vehicles for development, they are avenues for partisan mobilization and provision of jobs for politicians and hangers on. How long can we continue to toy with the destiny of an otherwise great nation?

    Gov Fashola has provided us all with food for thought as regards the place of local governments in our constitution and our federal nexus. He presents his arguments with so much thoughtfulness and admirable courage. He is a thoroughbred developmentalist, in the mould of South-east Asian modernizers like Mahathir Mohammed of Malaysia and Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore. Developmentalists are, according to new social science theorists, political leaders who genuinely regard the well-being and future of their people as inviolable and place the radical enhancement of the living standards of the citizens above politics and all personal and primordial considerations. With people like Fashola and immediate past Central Bank of Nigeria governor Chukwuma Soludo in Nigerian politics, there is still a ray of hope for our people.

    • Adinuba is head of Discovery Public Affairs Consulting.

  • Workshop on council autonomy

    Issues bordering on the autonomy of the local governments in Nigeria will dominate a public discourse which will be held Tuesday next week at the Shehu Musa Yar’Ardua Conference Centre, Abuja.

    Governor of the State of Osun Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola and the national president, Association of Local Government of Nigeria (ALGON) Dr Ozo Nwabueze Okafor will lead other discussants while speaking on the theme: Local Government Authority: How Autonomous:?, said Tola Odusote Director of the Public Affairs Unit of CMC Connect. Odusote said the duo will be joined by others drawn from across politics, academia, civil society, among others,

    Odusote said the national discourse which is the second edition is sponsored by CMC in conjunction with O’Ken Ventures a Public Relations outfit.

    “This issue’ (local government autonomy) Oduoted said, “has been preponderant in the media and the general public, whether autonomy should belong to local governments or that state should continue to manage local governments. We shall be bringing discussants from every sphere to deliberate and in the end, issue a communiqué which will be forwarded to government at all levels, civil societies and other relevant agencies.”

     

     

     

  • Governors can’t prevent council autonomy, says Abatemi-Usman

    Governors can’t prevent council autonomy, says Abatemi-Usman

    The Vice Chairman of Senate Committee on Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Nurudeen Abatemi-Usman, has said that the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) cannot prevent constitutional autonomy to the local governments in the country.

    He lamented that the forum’s position may create a setback to the constitution review.

    Abatemi-Usman is sponsoring a bill seeking for financial autonomy for local governments. The bill, which had passed through the second reading, is now with the Senate Committee on Constitution Review.

    He said councils can only discharge their duties effectively when they are not hindered by constraints imposed by the states.

    The senator was reacting to the remarks of the NGF’s chairman, Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi, who reportedly said that the governors would lobby the National Assembly to reject council autonomy. The governors have explained that local government are not coordinate units of the federation, stressing that autonomy for them is not contemplated under federalism.

    The governors have also said that, since councils are created by the House of Assembly, states should exercise financial control over them.

    Abatemi-Usman, who represents Kogi Central Senatorial Distric, declared that local government autonomy is the most important item for consideration, adding that it is desirable.

    He explained that autonomy would pave way for rapid development at the grassroots.

    The senator objected to the operation of the state/local government joint account, saying that it is an aberration that must be corrected, despite the governors’ stiff opposition.

    Abatemi-Usman said: “I have always been an advocate of autonomy for local governments. This was what prompted me to put up a bill for their financial autonomy when I became a senator in 2011 to free them from the governors.

    “I am happy that the entire Nigerian people have seen the need for local governments to be granted autonomy, as reflected by their position during the public hearings held by the House of Representatives members across the 360 constituencies and the ones organised by the senators in the six geo-political zones of the country. Therefore, the people’s desire will definitely prevail over that of the governors. How can the governors stand against the wish of the generality of Nigerians, who elected them into office?”