Niger outlaws LG caretaker committees

Saka Bolaji, Minna

The Niger state government has outlawed the operation of caretaker committees in the administration of local governments in the state.

Towards this end, only elected officials shall henceforth, superintend the affairs of the third tier of government in the state.

This follows the signing into law by Gov. Abubakar Sani-Bello, the amended bill to the Niger state Local Government Law 2001, recently passed by the state House of Assembly.

Commissioner for Justice and Attorney General of the state, Danmallam Nassara, disclosed this to newsmen after the weekly state executive council meeting in Minna, the state capital.

With the new law, only tenured democratically elected officers will run the administer local government affairs in the state.

Nassara said the decision to democratize administration at the local level is in tandem with the 1999 Constitution and in compliance with a Supreme Court judgement.

“Henceforth, our local governments shall be run by one democratically elected official to another and there is no longer space for arrangements like caretakers, and this is in line with Section 7 of the 1999 Constitution as amended,” he stated.

The commissioner reiterated that the local government amendment law has generated a lot of public interest and in keeping with his electoral promise, Gov. Sani -Bello took the bold step in ensuring that all arms of government in the state are run in accordance with the constitution and in line with the best practices in developed democracies.

“Governor Abubakar Sani -Bello has taken the bold step at ensuring that the local government is democratically structured with elected officials at the helms of affairs, hence the sponsorship of an executive bill for the amendment to the Niger state Local Government Laws of 2001,” Nasara added.

The commissioner then assured the people of the state that the next local government election will be conducted in accordance with the new law, stating further said that the governor also signed into law two other bills; the Niger state government 2019 Appropriation Law and a bill to provide for the imposition and collection of tax on satellite devices on buildings.