Aregbesola, Sagay kick against LG autonomy The clarion call for autonomy for the third tier of government in Nigeria received some knocks from unexpected quarters yesterday. Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun state and a legal luminary, Professor Itse Sagay, kicked against the proposed autonomy for local governments. Granting the councils such freedom would, in the duo’s view, be counter-productive. Speaking at the 2nd National Public Discourse organised by CNC Connect in conjunction with OKEN Ventures in Lagos, Aregbesola and Sagay criticised the current system whereby the federal government “largely does nothing and gets the chunk of money generated”. Conversely, they contended, the local governments, which are supposed to be catalysts of development, are left with very little or nothing. According to Aregbesola, the current structure run in Nigeria is an aberration. “Nigeria’s federalism is a fallacy because there is no place in the world where there are three tiers in true federalism. In a true federalism local governments are mere administrative units of states,” the governor posited. Using the words of the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, the governor said: “The current Nigeria Federal system of government is a destructive and abominable legacy of the military.” Sharing the same thoughts, Sagay also criticised the central government for taking too much for itself and doing very little in return. “Nigeria is a federation, so the question of having autonomous local governments is just simply out! The local government is part and parcel of the state and technically should have no business with the federal government,” he stated. Sagay added: “Involving the National Assembly in creation of LGs is only brewing confusion. What the local government should be is the states’ agency for development and should not even be mentioned in the constitution at all. “The states are supposed to decide how many and where it wants tocreate LGs and fund them absolutely by itself. Federal government should not participate in such account.” The national discourse was attended by a couple of local government chairmen, top local council officials and members of the public who also contributed to the discussion.
Posted on: Wed, 12 Jun 2013 13:40:13 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015