The purported joint statement of the 33 local government chairmen in Oyo State is the highest form of slavery in modern society. Indeed, these 33 local government chairmen (someone’s parents) are deeply rooted in chains to the point that they have submitted their sense of reasoning and patriotism for whatever it is they might be getting in return from the governor.
Seyi Makinde, ever since the Supreme Court ruling on local government financial autonomy, has been engaging in some ignoble dance to the point that he had to declare he will set up a committee to review a judgement of the Supreme Court. Nothing else defines ignorance more than that absurdity. The governor’s mouth oozes ignorance. Crass ignorance. But I understand that a financial pipeline has been cut off with that Supreme Court judgement, hence his dancing around like a snake cut in the midriff.
Just as I said on a platform wherein my local government chairman also belongs earlier today, these 33 local government chairmen are writing a letter to prison. And in all honesty, some of us will see them off to the prison yard. They can decide to be loyal to the governor for whatever reasons, but it must not be with the funds of the people and at the expense of development at the grassroots.
Probably the Local Government Chairmen in Oyo State do not understand that the local government, being a tier of government, is statutorily a beneficiary of financial allocations from the centre for the discharge of their functions and that the judgement has helped address looting of the treasury and the total dysfunction of governance at the grassroots level. It has helped eradicate a situation whereby governors hijack funds meant for local government and then spend it as they so desire without any form of accountability.
Take it or leave it, the federal government has done well by addressing what appeared to be the endless abuse of local government autonomy by state governors with that suit. In fact, in some states, we have witnessed how governors will unilaterally and arbitrarily dissolve a local government executive duly elected by the people at the grassroots and then set up a caretaker committee without any form of remorse or regard for the electorates. Seyi Makinde is one of those governors.
The federal government has also been found wanting to aid this illegality by pumping money to fund this illegality in states where there is no democratically elected local government executive, as against the provision of Section 7(1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended). However, the Supreme Court judgement has helped address this anomaly.
But I find it really disturbing that the 33 Local Government Chairmen in Oyo State could go to the extent of addressing the media and demanding from the federal government to keep sending people’s money (local government fund) to the state government account wherein Seyi Makinde will, in return, hand over a meagre amount to them. I understand that the local government chairmen have chosen to be beggars in the hands of Governor Seyi Makinde as a way of showing their gratitude for him being instrumental to their emergence, but they must understand that the Supreme Court judgement has rescued local governments from being beggars in the hands of governors.
The implication is that the local government chairmen can decide out of their benevolence and slavish mentality to hand over their salaries to Seyi Makinde, not the people’s money. And I am really happy that there is no provision for immunity for local government chairmen. It means they could, while in office, enter Agodi prison for some period of time for the misappropriation of public funds. This is a level some of us are ready to pursue with local government chairmen in our dear state, especially in my Ona-Ara local government.
I understand that the 33 local government chairmen in Oyo State are in the hands of the governor, but it needs to be said to them that some of us, as active citizens, will not be silenced about the misappropriation of local government funds. In fact, the press conference that was done by the local government chairmen amounts to gross misconduct, and we will never tolerate it in this democracy. Yes! As puppets in the hands of Seyi Makinde, they are on a journey to smother the local government autonomy effort of the federal government, which some of us have long demanded, but they will rather end up in prison.
I want to urge the federal government to comply fully with the ruling of the Supreme Court by paying local government allocation to local government accounts, and, in instances where there is no democratically elected local government executive, such allocation should be withheld in line with one of the reliefs granted by the Supreme Court. Also, in instances where local government executives fail to submit their account to the federal government for onwards payment, such funds should be withheld.
It is really amusing that the 33 local government chairmen in Oyo State could address the media, tabling such a ridiculous and illegal demand. In fact, they are granting emperor status to Seyi Makinde. Should they not be worried that the local government is not getting their 10 percent share of the internally generated revenue in the state, which is one of the reasons the States/Local Government Joint Account was constitutionally created?
I doubt if these local government chairmen are aware that, under the Constitution, the building and administration of markets, motor parks, primary schools, waste disposal, primary healthcare delivery, transportation, rural road maintenance, provision of signage, and maintenance of cemeteries and abattoirs constitute the core services of local governments. I doubt if they are aware that the seizure of funds meant for local government, which has inadvertently denied them the funds to execute the aforementioned services, has created thousands of unproductive council workers who report at their offices only at the end of the month to collect salaries.
Conclusively, I want to implore the 33 local government chairmen to place the interests of citizens above their blind loyalty to the governor. Anything other than that, history will not absolve them of the damage to Oyo State local governments, considering the fact that development will be stalled when the FG decides to withhold their funds. The constitutional provision that grants autonomy to the local government to run their affairs and to make decisions on how their money is spent must remain sacrosanct.
Kazeem Olalekan Israel writes from Ibadan, Nigeria.
