State houses of assembly on track with LG autonomy – NULGE

The Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) has reacted to claims that the local government autonomy has been rejected by state houses of assembly in the on-going constitutional amendment process, intimating that such information is false.

President of NULGE, Ibrahim Khaleel, revealed that the bill was still under consideration by 26 houses of assembly across the country, as only 10 had so far considered the bill and passed it to the Chairman of Conference of Speakers of state Houses of Assembly for transmission to the National Assembly.

Khaleel stated that the National Assembly had sent 15 different bills to the states houses, of which Local Government Autonomy Bill was one of them.

“Among the 36 states, however, only 10 states have considered the Bill on Local Government Autonomy and forwarded it to the Chairman of Conference of Speakers, which was part of what was transmitted to the National Assembly.

“Among the 10 states that have considered it, eight states: Kwara, Benue, Niger, Plateau, Bauchi, Cross River, Bayelsa and Ogun states voted for local government autonomy while only two states: Edo and Imo, rejected it by voting against it.”

Khaleel further commented that Rivers and Lagos states have not attempted to work on the Bill, but noted that the remaining 24, who joined the other 10 states to transmit it to the National Assembly, said they stepped the bill down for further consultation.

“So, 24 states houses of assembly are still working on it, many of them are already holding a public hearing on it.

That is what is going on. For example, Sokoto State just conducted a public hearing on the bill. Gombe has just called for a memorandum from its citizens on Local Government Autonomy Bill. Others also differ it to hold a public hearing and for further discussions before they vote and forward it to Chairman, Conference of Speakers.

“It is just that only eight so far have voted for it among 10 states who have fully considered it. It is possible that we will still get 16 states, out of the remaining states that have not voted on Local Government Autonomy Bill.

We can see that it has not been rejected. So, we can’t say local government autonomy has been rejected. It is still work in progress,” he said.