Finally, the long awaited LG autonomy is here!

WEDNESDAY COLUMN BY USSIJU MEDANER

info@medaner.com, justme4justice@yahoo.com

Local government is the closest arm to the people. It is the tier of government administration that coordinates the activities of citizens at the local community levels. Local government as a concept of government existed long before the arrival of the colonialists in Nigeria. Historically, there were forms of local government administrations in Nigeria before colonial rule. For instance, during the era of colonialism, the British indirect rule system was built upon existing local administrations in Nigeria.

Unfortunately, the local government administration in Nigeria has passed through tortuous phases. From gross abuse and willful undermining of the capacity of the layer of government to produce the much-needed development at the community levels to the lack of local government autonomy among others. Sadly, we have lost out as a nation as the gains of allowing local administrations to function have eluded us over the decades and consequently created a developmental lag across the grassroots communities in the country. Arguably, It has also almost terminated the development of the rural areas in Nigeria.

The need for autonomy of local governments in Nigeria as enshrined in the nation’s constitution is so sacrosanct to national development that it is unfortunate that the state governors and those who could have done something to restore sanity have chosen to turn blind eyes over the decades. The only way government’s impact can trickle down to the local communities is when the local government administrations are functional. It is only possible when the vital, necessary and functional local administration is allowed to solely make and implement certain defined policies and decisions at its level, to be able to plan and execute local projects in a manner that they are technically and financially free to identify the needs of their people in the local communities and have the wherewithal to meet them through provision of basic amenities and other needed services.

The constitution is clear and unambiguous in its demarcation of authorities, roles and responsibilities among the federal, state and local government administrations in the country. There have always been in existence clear allocations of roles to the local government administration to meet up with aspects of the social and basic infrastructural development of the Nigerian societies. The local government is required by the constitution to be headed by a democratically elected chairman, who heads the executive arm of the governance of the local government, a number of elected councilors who constitute the law making arm of the government, and a number of appointed supervising councillors who act as commissioners to administer various development at the 8,809 social units of the local governments administration. The 1979 Constitution clearly gave the local government a distinct character. They have the legitimacy to exercise all the powers of government at that level.

The spirit and expectation of the constitution is clear: that there is a level of administration that can only be effective if brought closer to the people at the grassroots. Massive engagement in agricultural farming would have been made possible if the local governments across the country are functioning as proposed by the constitution. Imagine what would have been the food situation in the country if each and every one of the 774 local government administrations is effectively engaged in direct farming as it used to be in the past, and coordinating extension officers to assist individual farmers to get the best from their farms as it used to be. We won’t probably be where we are today.

Primary education in the country has become a shadow of what it used to be, all because the managers, the local government have become a rubber stamp of some governors who merely take all decisions and decide what is done and what is ignored. The salaries of teachers at the primary schools can no longer be paid without the permission of the state governors who decide what is to be released to the chairman and when to release it.

And then, we have the lingering fight against insecurity. It began from the grassroots; the culprits are within the grassroots population, the victims are mostly at the grassroots also, but our responses are from the top. That is one of the many reasons we have continually failed at ending insecurity in the country. It is a faulty model. If the local government is unchained to function  as the first line of response against insecurity, we will begin to get the results we so desire.

Social and infrastructural development, most especially, those contained in the residual list were lost to our derailed system, as the local administration became literally non-existing in reality. In 2023 alone, the 774 local governments in the country collected a total sum of N2.089 trillions from FAAC. What became of this huge allocations? Why are there no commensurate socioeconomic developments across the local government areas of the country?

This problem began all the way from 1999 when some of the governors then suddenly devised a devilish, self profiting scheme to appropriate the powers of local government administration to be under their domains of control; and manipulatively coined and created what came to be called the joint account, which heralded the death of local government administration in the country. Since then, the governors would prefer the non-existence of duly elected chairmen, as they forced the constitution to the corner and created the demon called caretaker chairman for the local governments. Of course, a caretaker becomes an appendage of the governor, an appointee that does the bidding of his or her principal. So far, 437 of the 774 local government councils are without substantial democratically elected chairmen across the country.

The monthly allocation of the local government councils are paid directly from FAAC into a joint account controlled by the state government, and some governors arbitrarily hand over local government wage bills, at best, to the chairmen to settle staff salaries and probably pocket monies for their troubles, and everything about the local government development virtually ends at that point. Except for a very few local governments across the country, development is not heard of and a rare occurrence. Automatically, it became a norm that governors prefer not to allow the conduct of elections to fill the constitutional role of local government chairmen in their various states, and would rather repeatedly appoint caretakers to oversee the councils all through their tenure.

We have cried too long for the marginalisation of the first tiers of government, for restructuring; and we are beginning to see the foundation being laid. A functioning local government would definitely restructure the dissemination of development evenly across all communities in the country, because there is no other factor that represents an even and equal spread like the local government system in our polity.

The recent Supreme Court interpretation of the Constitution to grant LGA autonomy is perhaps the best thing to have happened to our country in recent times and would remain the pillar of significant milestones for grassroots development for a long time to come. The profound pronouncement would mean that henceforth, the 774 LGAs have become financially independent from the shackles of the governors, and would now be making decisions, taking actions and managing their own funds without being subjected to arbitrary and unconstitutional approvals from the state governors as the unfortunate case has been for decades. From this, we should be expecting greater accountability to the bulk of the Nigerian electorate which constitutes the population of LGAs. We would begin to see LGAs planning and embarking on real infrastructural and social development plans that impact on the lives of their immediate constituents and communities. At this point, and in the near future, we should expect a radical change in the delivery of essential services like education, healthcare, sanitation, food stability and improved security. The apex Court interpretation indeed, is a worthy milestone to celebrate for LGA administration.

For the record, let us trace the beginning of the LGA problem. It began with the intentional attempt to take advantage of the apparent confusion in the interpretation of the provision of Section 7 of the 1999 Constitution. While Section 7(1) states emphatically that “The system of local government by democratically elected local government councils is under this constitution guaranteed; and accordingly, the government of every state shall subject to section 8 of this constitution, ensure their existence under a Law which provides for the establishment, structure, composition, finance and functions of such councils.” And, Section 7 (6a) submits that “the National Assembly shall make provisions for statutory allocation of public revenue to Local Government councils in the federation. But the confusion occurs in the intention of Section 7 (6b) which states that “the House of Assembly of a state shall make provisions for statutory allocation of public revenue to local government councils within the state.” And also Section 162 (6) where it established the State Joint Local Government Account for the purpose of payment of “all allocations to the Local Government councils of the State from the Federal account and from the Government of the State.” In Section 162(7), it directs the State Government to pay to Local Government councils its total revenue on the terms prescribed by the National Assembly. At the same time it gives the same power and functions to the State House of Assembly in section.

The governors have chosen to uphold the aspect that gives control to the House of Assembly and the provision for a joint account to corner the local government and went on to commit the illegal act of introducing and perpetuating a caretaker Committee instead of democratically elected managers for the councils. This aberration has stunted the growth of democracy at the grassroots; but we can only hope and assiduously come up with innovations that will reverse the age-long underdevelopment of LGA administration in Nigeria.

What just happened was not delivery of a judgment, but an explanation of the intent of the constitutional stand on the position and stature of local government administration in Nigeria and a broad and final clarification of the intents of the contradicting Sections of the Constitution on the stature and control of the third tier of governance in Nigeria.

By the delivery of the Supreme Court interpretation of the Constitution on local government financial autonomy, it simply means that all the 774 Local Government Councils across the country must be administered by duly democratically elected chairmen and councilors. Otherwise, the Director of Administration or the Head of Administration would become the acting chairman until the needful is done.

We should get used to this; the government must stand by the Constitution, no allocation must be made to any local government that errs on the law. The governors must know that it is game over and for once, should stand for  what is right and in the interest of strengthening our nascent democracy.

 Let’s start from here; and we are expecting more to come.