Obasanjo condemns states’ disposition to LG autonomy, financial independence

Miffed by the Nigerian state governments’ disposition to the local government autonomy and financial independence, former President Olusegun Obasanjo has condemned alleged bad treatment meted out to the 774 local governments in Nigeria, saying: “I wish I could help, but I am helpless.”

Obasanjo, who received the leadership of Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) at his Presidential Hilltop residence in Abeokuta, said the local councils had been “bastardised, battered and encroached upon badly” contrary to the vision and mission of creating the third-tier of government in 1976.

While challenging rationale behind state governments’ unnecessary control over local councils during a courtesy of NULGE led by Ibraheem Khaleel, the national president, he described treatment being meted out to local councils by state governors as barbaric and needs to be addressed for the councils to forge ahead.

He said: “Sadly and very, very sad that the state authority is without an exemption has encroached and bastardised local governments and take it away from where it is supposed to be. Why this is to be condemned in clear terms is that, it will be unfair for the Federal Government to ask the state governments what they are doing to the local governments.”

Meanwhile, Ogun State government has declared that it did not divert the bailout funds from the Federal Government for another purpose, insisting that the money was wholly committed to the payment of arrears of salaries, co-operative deductions to all categories of its workers.

Secretary to the State Government, Taiwo Adeoluwa, stated on Wednesday in Abeokuta at a separate meetings with Heads of Local Government Administrations (HOLGA) and the leadership of the State chapter of National Union of Local Government Employers (NULGE) in his office.

Adeoluwa, who expressed surprise at the insinuations in some quarters, that part of the funds, especially those due to Local Government Councils were diverted, blamed the development on communication gap between government and the local government administrators, adding that anti-graft agencies, particularly the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC), which monitored the disbursement across the country, gave the state a clean bill of health after the exercise.