Time for LG autonomy, but…
Last week, the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) gave notice that it would soon embark on a nationwide protest to demand autonomy for the country’s 774 local governments and area councils… The decision was reached after the union rose from a National Executive Council (NEC) meeting and also paid a visit to the […]
Last week, the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) gave notice that it would soon embark on a nationwide protest to demand autonomy for the country’s 774 local governments and area councils… The decision was reached after the union rose from a National Executive Council (NEC) meeting and also paid a visit to the National Assembly. NULGE’s National President Comrade Ibrahim Khalee said that Nigeria must follow international best practices on local government administration. “One of the demands at the United Nations meeting was that the LGAs across the world be made to be autonomous in line with democratic principles,” he said. He also said Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) backs the planned strike action.
NULGE has been buoyed by two recent events that favour the union and its members. The first one is the recent judgment of the Supreme Court which ruled that state governments can’t dissolve local councils before their tenure expires. The Supreme Court relied on Section 7(1) of the 1999 Constitution in handing down that ruling. The second one is the effort of the National Assembly to give administrative and financial autonomy to local governments. Accordingly, NULGE stated that the planned protest would serve dual purposes of supporting what the National Assembly is doing and to sensitize state assemblies to follow suit.
We believe that what NULGE is fighting for is a worthy cause. Local governments, being the closest tier to the people, are not being used for the purposes for which they are designed. Democratic local councils here exist at the pleasure of state governments. Many state governments refuse to conduct elections, sometimes for many years, on the excuse that they have no money. They then appoint caretaker committees that do not have the mandate of the people or the confidence to work outside the governors’ scripts. This was why state governors blocked efforts during past constitutional review exercises to give practical autonomy to local governments.
But now that the Supreme Court has decided on what the character of the local councils should be, we all must find ways to support or facilitate the move for elected and autonomous councils in Nigeria. This is important, considering that even though states are given powers to enact laws to create local councils, the constitution guaranteed that local governments must be democratic. It is sad that since 1999 we have had democratically elected federal and state governments but the two upper tiers, especially state governments, did not allow democracy to take root at the local level.
We are not however unmindful of the weaknesses of the third tier of government. Reports from all over the country portray local governments as weak, unaccountable and almost chaotic. Many fear that in their present state, granting them autonomy is an invitation to chaos. There are already indications from some states. In Niger State for example, when the councils were elected in January 2016, they sought for and the state government granted them financial autonomy. The joint account was largely discontinued and money disbursed from the Federation Account went directly to them.
However, immediately the autonomy was implemented, many of the councils came to grief as 13 of them couldn’t even pay salaries. At a point, local government staff were owed over three months’ salaries until the state government bailed them out with N4 billion, but not without the state governor, Alhaji Abubakar Sani Bello threatening to audit their accounts and making everything public. Although their inability to pay salaries wasn’t entirely their fault (e.g. they may get allocation of N70m while their salary bill is N90m), the governor said the chairmen refused to pay even a part of the salaries but continued to draw their security votes and travel allowances.
Therefore, we urge NULGE, the National Assembly and the state assemblies to note this potential problem, lest the local councils suffer from buyer’s remorse. Yet, Nigerians must find the will and sustainable ways to make our local councils autonomous and functional.