Soludo says absolute autonomy impossible, signs Anambra LG law

Governor Chukwuma Soludo of Anambra State has described absolute autonomy for the Local Government in Nigeria as an impossibility, insisting that it will be a recipe for chaos.

Governor Soludo, who signed the Local Government Administration Law on Tuesday in Awka, contended that the attendant challenges before the issue of Local Government Autonomy are such that it would certainly deepen the fate of the system and spell doom for the expected beneficiaries of the process.

The governor said that Section 7 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended comes in handy for the enactment of the enabling laws for the Administration of the respective Local Government areas across the Country.

“This is where Section 7 of the Constitution comes in handy, and the Anambra State House of Assembly has risen to the occasion. Happily, the Supreme Court did not nullify Section 7 of the Constitution.

“The new laws by the State House of Assembly are therefore consequential to give operational life to the Supreme Court judgment and not to undermine it.

“If the State House of Assembly abdicates this constitutional duty, the Local Government will then have no law on the use and management of its finance which the Constitution has given the State House of Assembly the mandate to legislate on. Indeed, in many states, the House of Assemblies retain the power to suspend or remove chairpersons of Local Governments.

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“By the way, isn’t the legislative authority exercised by the State Assemblies under Section 7 of the Constitution similar to the powers granted by the Constitution to the National Assembly over the Federal Capital Territory and its Area Councils?

“Governors are often accused of seeking to “control” LG funds with insinuations that LG funds are mismanaged. Of course, in a society where public office is seen as “dining table” and public trust is low, people judge others by their own standards: by what they would do if they were in the position. I often ask: control for what?

“While I cannot hold brief for every governor, I know that most states are struggling to ensure a solvent local government system. I wish I could be spared the headache, if not for the predictable collateral damage to the system if we abdicate from structured oversight and collective accountability.

“Without active collaboration and coordination between state and local governments, many LGs will end up in a huge financial mess, requiring bailouts by state governments or will FGN directly intervene in every case of insolvency among the 774 LGs?

“The challenge ahead can be daunting given the quantum rise in wage bills because of the new minimum wage, as well as consequential rise in future pension/gratuity payments.”