By Michael Jegede
Before the National Assembly went on annual recess towards the end of
July this year, the Senate and House of Representatives had separately
debated and voted on the various items listed for amendment in the
constitution.
Of all the recommendations in the reports presented by the Senate
Committee on Constitution Review and their House of Reps counterpart,
autonomy for local governments was of great concern to Nigerians. The
Senate public hearing held across the six geopolitical zones and
public people’s session conducted by the House of Reps last year in
the 360 federal constituencies of the country, attested to the fact
However, at the end of voting on each items, the Red Chamber dropped
the clause for the proposed financial autonomy meant to abolish the
joint state/local government account and allow the local councils to
get direct funding from the federation account. On their part, members
of the Green Chamber unanimously voted in favour of the abolition of
the joint account in line with the aspirations of the people.
While many commended members of the House of Representatives for
taking into cognizance the views of the people as reflected in the
public sessions they conducted, in arriving at their decision on LG
autonomy, the Senate was heavily condemned for voting against the
proposal.
For instance, a pressure group under the aegis of Progressive Anambra
Youths (PAY), in conjunction with Newbreed Youth Organization (NYO),
said it was going to mobilize over one million Nigerian youths against
the Senate, should the Senators continue to stand on the way of LG
autonomy. They gave applause to House of Reps members, maintaining
that their action was in accordance with the yearnings of the masses.
In a statement signed by the National President Newbreed Youth
Organization, Comrade Okafor Nonso Smart and National Secretary, Mr.
Chika Nath Nwakwo-Arinze, the group had given the Senate up till 14th
of September this year, to reverse its decision or contend with over
one million youths taking over the National Assembly.
In one of my previous write-ups on this issue captioned: “Quest for LG
autonomy and Govs’ rantings”, I had noted in very clear terms that the
governors were doing everything within their reach to forestall the
granting of financial autonomy to local government in the ongoing
constitution review process. Their (governors) push against according
fiscal independence to the LGs, like I pointed out, was basically to
ensure that they continue to emasculate the third tier of government
to their own advantage.
Senator Odion Ugbesia is the Senator representing Edo Central
senatorial district and a member of the Senate Constitution Review
Committee. Asked in an interview why the Senators did not pass the LG
autonomy clause, he said: “Today we have what is called the Governors’
Forum. This body is not known to the Nigerian constitution, but still
determines the shape and direction of Nigerian politics because the
governors have assumed so much powers not envisaged in the
constitution. Why have they become so powerful? Because they control
the political processes, political parties are under their whims and
caprices, they have so much money…There are cases in court where the
money directed to local governments doesn’t get to them because it is
stopped at the state level. We are talking about true fiscal
federalism. If the money meant for the third tier of government does
not get there, then we have a problem because the governors don’t
allow the money to get there.”
Vice Chairman, Senate Committee on Niger Delta and sponsor of the
financial autonomy bill in the Senate, Senator Nurudeen Abatemi-Usman,
had observed that the operation of the state/local government joint
account as currently practiced was an aberration that must be
corrected in the interest of Nigerians. He equally said that he was
prompted to put up the bill so as to free local governments from the
stranglehold and claws of the state governors.
Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Science and
Technology, Hon. Abiodun Akinlade, defended the verdict of the House
on LG autonomy, maintaining that the members voted according to the
wish of their people.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) legislator representing Yewa
South/Ipokia Federal Constituency of Ogun State, said: “This is what
our people want; we conducted a People’s Public Session all over the
federation on November 10, 2012. The result of that session showed
that Nigerians voted overwhelmingly for local government autonomy. As
their representatives, we merely endorsed their wish by granting
autonomy to local governments.”
Akinlade revealed that there were moves to thwart the decision of the
Green Chamber by some forces, which were against local government
autonomy. But according to him, “We had to ignore them because what
was uppermost in our minds was the wish of our people. We are happy
today that we protected their interest.”
Minister of Interior, Abba Moro had also at a point lent his voice to
the debate on local government autonomy. A local council chairman for
about eight years and one-time chairman of the Benue State chapter of
Association of local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON), Moro had said: “I
am an advocate for a holistic autonomy for local governments. I want a
situation where the local government will operate as a true tier of
government. We are operating federalism, a federalism that is
epitomized or encapsulated in the three tiers of government of the
federal, state and local government. And so, I expect that the framers
of the constitution would have gone further than the scanty provisions
in section 7 of the constitution of the federal republic of Nigeria
1999 to a level where provisions should have been made for the local
governments to get their allocation direct from the federation
account, for the local governments to exercise jurisdiction over their
revenue avenues.”
However, all hope is not lost on the issue of local government
autonomy. Since the House of Reps passed its own version, there are
chances of it still scaling through at the conference session, where
the committees of the two chambers will meet to harmonize their
differences before the final passage by the National Assembly.
The fear again is the provision of the constitution which made it
mandatory for 2/3 of the 36 State Houses of Assembly to approve each
item passed by the Federal Legislature before it can have the force of
law. Will the governors sit down and watch the state assemblies that
are believed to be under their control give approval to LG autonomy
which they are vehemently opposed to?
Much as the lawmakers would want to remain loyal to the governors for
the role they may have played in their electoral victories, they must
know that it is equally important to protect the interest of the
populace, who gave them (the legislators) the mandate to represent
them at the parliamentary arm of government. The granting of financial
autonomy to local council is a necessary option to open the door of
rapid development at the grassroots level.
Michael Jegede, a media practitioner wrote from Abuja
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