The All Progressives Congress (APC) has said its governors are not against autonomy for local governments, as reported in a section of the media yesterday.
It described such reports as a gross misrepresentation of the governors’ position on the issue.
In a statement in Oro, Kwara State, yesterday by its Interim National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said the governors are only asking that such autonomy must be determined by the Houses of Assembly, rather than the National Assembly.
“For those who may have been misled by the media reports, we want to state our stand. In the first instance, the constitution gives the Houses of Assembly the power to create local governments. Therefore, autonomy for local governments should be debated in the Houses of Assembly, not in the National Assembly.
“Secondly, giving control of the local governments to the Federal Government, one of the two federating units in a federalist system of government, will only result in the creation of a unitary government.
“Thirdly, local government administration must be democratically- elected in a free and fair election. Chairmen and councillors must be accountable to those who elected them.
“We are a welfarist party and we believe in accountability and abhor any system where any local government administration is not elected freely and fairly. The appointment of caretaker committees to run local governments is an aberration. This is our stand and it definitely does not represent an opposition to autonomy for local governments,” APC said.
The party said instead of creating more problems by giving the National Assembly the power to regulate local governments, ways must be found to resolve existing problems for the smooth running of local governments.
“Let us ensure that local government elections are free, fair and credible; let us ensure that chairmen and councillors are accountable.
Let us stop the appointment of caretaker committees to run local governments because this is undemocratic. Let the Houses of
Assembly, which have the powers to create local governments, also be able to determine the issue of autonomy.
“Also to be looked into are the areas of responsibility of the local governments. Currently, they have the same list of responsibilities, although their areas of priority differ. But the truth is that local governments should have different areas of responsibility. While some may want to place emphasis on agriculture, some may prefer environment by virtue of their topography.
“On the belief that some state governments appropriate funds meant for local governments, the cure is not for the Federal Government to give money directly to the local governments, but for states and local governments to agree on how to ensure a judicious expenditure of local government funds. The partnership between states and local governments is very important for the overall welfare of the common man,” APC said.
The Lagos State chapter of the APC has backed the party’s governors on the true federalism and proper adjustment in the current lopsided revenue allocation.
It said it supports the APC governors that local government autonomy in the face of unjust federal structure and a revenue formula that gives the Federal Government so much is another effort to smuggle unitarism in what is supposed to be a federation.
In a statement in Lagos by its Interim Publicity Secretary, Joe Igbokwe, the APC said the veiled attempt to annex the councils by the Federal Government in the guise of local government autonomy would deepen the woes of the country rather than ameliorate it.
It, therefore, called for an urgent application of the principles of true federalism and just and proper fiscal allocation that may allow the local governments to function as a true federating unit when they are granted proper autonomy.
