NGO mobilises support for LG autonomy
NAN-H-107
Autonomy
By Aisha Gambo
Kaduna. Feb.8, 2018(NAN) An NGO, League of Democratic Women, (LEADS Nigeria), on Thursday began mobilisation campaign in Kaduna State for ongoing efforts to persuade the National Assembly to grant autonomy to local governments.
According to the NGO’s Executive Director, Mrs Rebecca John, the autonomy, if granted will ensure development at the local government level.
John said the organisation had held workshop to enlist people’s support in the state to put pressure on lawmakers at national and state levels to support local councils’ autonomy.
She explained that the workshop was organised with support from Action Aid and UKAID, under the Strengthening Citizens Engagement in the Electoral Process (SCEEP) project.
“The workshop was organised to engage members from different local government in the state towards sensitisation of other members of the community to support local government autonomy.
“This is because local government plays a vital role in the development process of every state.
“ But as you are all aware, local government, as a third tier of government, has been robed off of its autonomy as enshrined in the Constitution to the extent that citizen have forgotten the responsibilities of local government to them.
“Yes, there is ineffectiveness and corruption at local government levels, but this is because decentralisation has not been properly executed at local levels.
“Currently, most of the responsibilities of local government are being done by the state government. This is unconstitutional’’, the director said.
Earlier Dr Zwaghu Bonat, a consultant and founder of Centre for Population and Development, said that state governments in the country had passed laws that had taken away the autonomy of the local government councils.
According to him, the development restricts local government councils from delivering development gains to the people.
Bonat noted that the provision of the constitution on local government administration had been denigrated by deliberate actions of state governments to make the councils subordinate and subservient to the state governors.
He added that instead of condemning local government of being corrupt and inefficient in delivering developmental works, policies should be made that would checkmate the activities of the local governments.
“Effort should be made by the government and its citizens to strengthen the local government.
`All elective officials must be held accountable and must give account to their constituents on their activities in the local government’’, he added.
At the end of the event, the participants suggested that local governments should operate their own Treasury Single Account and should not be crippled by the state government TSA.
They also called for scrapping of local government joint account to allow transparency, accountability and accessibility of information on development projects and spending.
The participants equally wanted local governments to directly receive their fund from the federation account. (NAN)
AMG/GOM/MZA
Edited by Gregory Mmaduakolam/Maharazu Ahmed
================================