Local Government Autonomy: Nigerians Shouldn’t Rejoice Yet
The Supreme Court rose to the occasion on Thursday when it gave its verdict in one of the cases millions of Nigerians are interested in. The apex court didn’t dash the hope of the people, rather it has further proved itself to be the hope of the common people of the country.
The court has decided on the lingering matter of the local government autonomy. The court ruled that it’s unconstitutional for the governors to sit on the funds meant for the grassroot government. The court also said that henceforth, the funds from the federal accounts be paid directly into the coffers of the 774 councils.
It’s a serious disappointment for the governors, and the Federal Capital Territory minister who have made the local governments the appendages of the state government. They stopped the local councils to function effectively by lavishly spending the funds meant for the councils.
Local Government Autonomy remains one of the most discussed topics and its absence has really affected the development of the country. Now it seems the authority at the local level is free from the bondage. But Nigerians shouldn’t rejoice yet.
The elections into the local councils are not conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). It’s true that the commission is not perfect in its conduct of elections, yet it does its best to give Nigerians the true meaning of democracy.
There are state electoral commissions across the 36 states of the federation. They are directly responsible to the governors who use their whims and caprices. The commissions are not independent, they are poor funded and they don’t prepare at all for the exercise. Most of the time, the opposition parties withdraw from the race because they don’t have confidence in the state electoral commissions.
The candidates anointed and endorsed by the state governor coast home victory in a walkover. The last local government elections conducted in Oyo State is a charade. It mocked democracy and lacked the simplest principles of democracy. The governor will later dictate how the local government including its fund is run. What is then the local government autonomy being celebrated? It will simply be one step forward, two backward.
There won’t be genuine autonomy for the local government until the INEC conducts the elections. All political parties will take part and there will be real competition for the people’s mandate. Anything short of that amounts to nothing.
Online Parrot News will always campaign for the enshrinement of the core values of democracy. The media company will support everything that involves the people and put their basic interests at the centre. The local government autonomy is what the people at he grassroots need, but it’s not yet time to rejoice.
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