BARRIERS TO LOCAL GOVERNMENT AUTONOMY WITHIN NIGERIA FEDERAL SYSTEM
How local government autonomy can be achieved in Nigeria?
READ two things that State Govt are using to hold down the local government autonomy
The much agitated local government autonomy will be a mirage if state Independent Electoral Commission is not abolished.
The appointment of state Electoral officers by each state Governors must be expunged from the constitution to allow for local government autonomy.
Nigeria must also stop the state and local government joint account, since there was a time since the begining of 4th republic that local governments received their allocations directly from the Federation Account.
There is nothing better than for AKURE SOUTH local government to be autonomous
1. The state local government joint account
2. The existence in Nigerian constitution that the state Independent Electoral Commission
Until we amend those two provisions in our constitution, that is, to abrogate the state Independent electoral commission because as long as that exist, we cannot have a local government that will be autonomous
“The state government will continue to use that instrument to determine the party that win election in the state and you are aware that there has never be any state throughout Nigeria, may be APC or PDP controlled that has conducted local government election, that has not cleared will the election
“That is made possible by the State Independent Electoral Commission, because who plays the piper dictates the tune. Even in Lagos when an opposition party won, the election was declared for APC and that man had to go to court
“Realistically, I believe that local government should be autonomous because the 1991 to 1993 that I referred to, the local government in which I served then, was enjoying almost total autonomy because then, we were receiving allocation directly from the Federal account, we were responsible for the recruitment of the primary school teachers and our local government was responsible for the recruitment of the primary health care workers.
“Let me tell you, it was the golden era of local government because what we have today is not local government, it is just mere local administration
“There is different between local administration and local government. Today, no local government can do anything without taking instruction from the state
“They only do the script that was written for them by the State, throughout Nigeria, not limited to particular state.
“Another instrument is the local government State Joint Account. This is strange to Nigeria constitution. It an amorphous arrangement and it should not be allowed
– by Afe Olowokere, Federal Lawmaker representing Akure North/South Federal Constituency in Ondo state at the House of Reps, Abuja