NULGE commends NASS for approving Council autonomy for 3rd tier of govt

Amaka Agbu, Port Harcourt
The Rivers State Chapter of the National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) has rated the National Assembly high for approving local government autonomy in the ongoing process to review the 1999 constitution.

The development, NULGE explained, would prevent state governments from appropriating local government council funds which would help the councils push sustainable development in their areas.

NULGE President in Rivers State, Mr. Franklin Ajuwon, who made the assertion in Port Harcourt yesterday, therefore, called on the Rivers House Assembly and other state Assemblies to vote in favour of autonomy for local government councils in their Houses of Assemblies.

He said: “The mood of the nation is in favour of autonomy for local councils. The lawmakers in the state legislature owe themselves and their constituents the duty to vote in support of autonomy for their local governments. They should concur and align with the position of the National Assembly.

“Autonomy for local governments will boost development of the rural areas. All state governments in Nigeria see the revenue that comes to the local governments as monies belonging to the states, rather than to the local governments that are in dire need of the funds to develop rural communities,” Mr. Ajuwon stated.

Ajuwon lamented: “Lawmakers are there to do what their constituents want. So, we are appealing to the lawmakers in the state to vote overwhelmingly for autonomy for local governments just as their brothers and sisters have done at the National Assembly.

“Even the salaries of local governments are prepared by the ministry of local government under the state government. Even the overheads of the chairmen of the local councils are given to them by the state governments. The states are hijacking funds belonging to the local governments because state governments consider such fund as belonging to the states.”

Also commenting on the issue, a legal practitioner, Vincent Chukwu, said the National Assembly should be commended for voting in favour of autonomy for local governments. He called on state Houses of Assemblies to pass the bill in favour of autonomy for local governments without delay.

“The constitution must be properly and holistically amended. We need to look at the all laws that are currently impinging on the autonomy of local governments in the country and be appropriately repealed. The law regulates all organs in the society; therefore, laws relating to the autonomy of local government must be clearly defined,” he said.