Make Local councils autonomous, NAUS president urges govt
The leadership of the National Association of University Students (NAUS) has demanded for autonomy of Local Government Councils to enhance their efficiency and scrapping of the Joint Allocation Accounts Committee (JAAC) to allow local councils receive their allocations directly.
National President of the association, Comrade Jonathan Adekunle, made this demand known last week in a press statement made available to campus journalists at the National Secretariat of NAUS in Ekiti State University (EKSU).
According to Jonathan, the Local Governments can be used as an effective tool for the development of their community because of its closeness to the people. This, Jonathan said, makes them more effective than any other level of government if only they are granted autonomy.
He faulted state governments who have turned the councils to mere committees by failing to conduct Local Government elections and are in the habit of constituting caretaker committees every six months. He stated that such practices were inimical to the smooth running of Local Government councils and have hindered their performance over the years.
He listed amongst NAUS demands to include that state governments must henceforth stop the deliberate killing of the Local Government system and that executives Local Government councils must be democratically elected.
He added that there should be immediate scrapping of the State Independent Electoral Commission (SIEC) and transfer of power to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct local government elections.
“NAUS charges the leadership of the Senate and House of Representatives to support Local Government autonomy in the ongoing constitution amendment to bring about its efficiency and development. We are also demanding that a 4-year tenure of office for Local Government executives be instituted”.
