House of Reps berate govs on non-conduct of LG polls
From IHEANACHO NWOSU, Abuja
Saturday March 03, 2012
Tambuwal, Speaker, House of Reps
House of Representatives yesterday took a swipe on state governors who are yet to conduct local government election, accusing them of raping democracy.
This is coming as the House commenced moves to grant financial autonomy to councils. It passed a bill to amend 1999 Constitution providing for joint accounts between states and local governments.
Chairman, Media and Public Affairs, Zakari Mohammed said the resort to caretaker committees in the running of councils by some governors was tantamount to a rape on democracy.
Zakari told newsmen that the House would do everything within its power to stop flagrant abuse of council administration by governors. One of the steps to take in restructuring councils and ensuring their effectiveness he said was granting them direct access to their monthly allocations.
He stressed that making the local government officials get their allocations would make them meet grassroots expectations. Right now, Zakari argued that local governments have become glorified parastatals in the hands of state governors.
“What we need is true fiscal federalism, what we have now in states is unitary system,” he added.
Reminded that state assemblies may be used by governors to thwart the new moves, he said that there was no need to be pessimistic about the bill.
Leading the debate on the bill, Mohammed Ango Abdullahi contended that councils have become a laughing stock because they are not making desired impact on the lives of people at the grassroots.
He said councils no longer embark on projects, even those that need little capital, describing the situation as disheartening.
He accused the governors of being responsible for the situation. He claimed that most governors do not allow local government operators to access their monthly allocation.
Contributing, Mr. Samson Osagie (ACN) observed that local government administration has collapsed because the governors do not allow council officials free hand. He said the abolition of joint account would help councils access their money even as he said the new amendment must emphasize on compelling governors to remit the 10 per cent of their states’ internally generated revenues to councils as stipulated by the constitution.
He said the autonomy being sought by the House for councils is to help local government administrators to discharge their functions.
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