Govs Planning to Truncate LG Autonomy at State Assemblies – NULGE alleges

 President of the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE), Hakeem Ambali has accused the Nigerian Governors Forum of plans to truncate the ongoing constitutional review which has seen the National Assembly vote in favour of autonomy for local government administrations across the country.

Ambali, who lauded the National Assembly for taking the path of honour to vote in favour of autonomy for LG, said he has been inundated with clandestine moves by state governors to truncate the process at the State Houses of Assembly.

Recall that the National Assembly had on Tuesday, voted in favour of full autonomy for local government councils in the country, a development that has allegedly angered state governors who collect funds on their behalf from the federation account.

Although the National Assembly has passed it, it will require a 2/3 majority of the state Houses of Assembly to also pass it.

Ambali, who noted that the struggle for granting full autonomy to local governments has been a long-standing one, said some National Assembly members have come under pressure and threats from governors not to support the idea.

NULGE said when the autonomy takes full effect, the development will trickle down to the local government councils who are at the grassroots.

At a media roundtable to commend the legislature on Wednesday, Ambali said, “We are here to send our words of appreciation to the National Assembly, we know it has been a herculean task to see that this passage comes through. We know definitely that any patriotic Nigerian agrees that for too long the local government system has been under bondage and there is a need to fix it and that once we do that we will all be happy.

“So we appreciate what the NASS has done and we are not unmindful of the threats facing them. This struggle is not a demand for minimum wage but a demand for a better Nigeria, for so many years nothing is functional at the LG level. If you want to see poverty and gloom go to the rural areas, in the past the food that feed the country come from the local governments, there were functional administrative structures such that insecurity was not there, we had a way of engaging local vigilantes who ensure we had a safe environment.

Today Nigeria has descended into this sorry situation, despite the fact that it is the first point of interaction between the people and the government.

“We, therefore, call on members of State Houses of Assembly to vote in favour of this bill, we would ensure that we track the voting pattern of every honourable member, to make sure they answer to their own name individually, we will track those who vote against this bill, so we want them to be courageous enough and rescue the local government system because a vote for autonomy is a vote for development.

“This is also sending a note of warning to the chairman of the Nigerian Governors Forum, Kayode Fayemi that local government workers are monitoring any clandestine moves that they are making.”