‘Let’s not deceive ourselves, LG Autonomy can’t be fully achieved without State Assemblies’ backing’ — Senator Lawan lectures Akpabio
Lawan pointed out that any attempt to implement autonomy for local governments would require cooperation from state-level authorities.
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‘Let’s not deceive ourselves, LG Autonomy can’t be fully achieved without State Assemblies’ backing’ — Senator Lawan lectures Akpabio
In a plenary session on Thursday, former Senate President Ahmed Lawan stated that full autonomy for local governments in Nigeria cannot be achieved without the backing of state governors and their Houses of Assembly.
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His remarks came during a debate on the ongoing struggle for financial autonomy for local governments, following a recent Supreme Court ruling that declared it unconstitutional for state governments to control funds meant for local councils.
Lawan pointed out that any attempt to implement autonomy for local governments would require cooperation from state-level authorities.
“If you want the state independent electoral commission to be removed from the constitution so that only INEC conducts elections for all local governments, states, and the federation, then you must have the governors on board. That is reality; let’s not deceive ourselves that we can just pass the law and then the state assembly will comply—they will not,” Lawan said.
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His comments came after the Senate reconvened from a closed-door session to discuss concerns over the actions of some state governments attempting to circumvent the Supreme Court’s July ruling.
The court ruled that governors could no longer dissolve democratically elected local government councils or withhold their funds. Despite this, reports have surfaced suggesting that some state governments are using their Houses of Assembly to pass laws that effectively sidestep this ruling.
Senator Tony Nwoye raised the issue, expressing concern that certain state legislatures are enacting laws that force local councils to remit a significant portion of their federal allocations into state-controlled accounts. These actions, according to Nwoye, undermine the spirit of the Supreme Court judgment and the constitutional provisions that guarantee local government financial autonomy.
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Nwoye’s motion, co-sponsored by 12 other senators, highlighted the troubling practice of states managing local government funds through mechanisms such as state/local government joint accounts.
“The modus operandi of subverting this financial autonomy of local governments by state governments through their houses of assembly is to insert clauses in their laws requiring local governments to remit all or a majority of their allocation to a dedicated account controlled by the state government,” the motion stated.
In response, the Senate resolved to take steps towards amending sections of the Constitution to further entrench local government autonomy. The resolution also called on state and local governments to immediately comply with the Supreme Court judgment regarding local government accounts.
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The push for local government autonomy has been a long-standing issue in Nigeria’s political landscape. Advocates argue that without financial independence, local governments cannot function effectively or fulfill their mandate to serve citizens at the grassroots level. However, resistance from state governments, which often rely on control over local government resources, remains a significant hurdle.
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