In a seeming defiance of the Supreme Court, Anambra State Governor, Prof Chukwuma Soludo, on Tuesday described the idea of giving absolute autonomy to the 774 local government areas as unrealistic and against the Constitution.
Specifically, Soludo, shortly after signing the Local Government Administration Law bill, cited Section 7 of the Constitution as coming handy for the enacting of the enabling laws for the administration of local government areas across the country.
He argued that the attendant challenges before the issue of local government autonomy are such that would certainly deepen the fate of the system and spell doom for the expected beneficiaries of the process.
Amid opposition from Civil Society Organisations, the Governor said: “This is where Section 7 of the Constitution comes 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 Anambra 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 (and only the 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.
“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?”
Going down memory lane, Soludo added: “We inherited a local government system with four-year arrears (2018-2022) of gratuity to retired primary school teachers and other staff of local government. We have restructured their finances back to sustainability.
“Everyone who retired from the local government and state civil service since my tenure is paid gratuity/pension, and we are on course to clear the outstanding arrears soon.
“Three years’ arrears on counterpart funding for Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) has been cleared, resulting in billions of Naira recently invested in our primary schools. Some 326 primary health centres are being constructed or modernized in all the 326 wards in the state as well as employing hundreds of medical personnel to man the primary health centres.
“Most of the local government secretariats have been remodelled and equipped, and the LG system is once again alive. This is not to mention that 3,615 out of the 8,115 new teachers recruited under my administration are for primary schools and they are being paid. We do not want to go back!
“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 saying that he cannot hold brief for all the governors, Soludo noted that most states are struggling to ensure a solvent local government system.
His words: “I wish I can be spared the headache, if not for the predictable collateral damage to the system if we abdicate from structured oversight and collective accountability. 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.
“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?
“In conclusion, the progressive legislations by the State Assembly are designed to unleash the creative powers of the LGs, encourage peer learning, optimal development outcomes in planning and execution among the LGs, as well as novel accountability and transparency”
“The laws are ingenious by creating multiple layers of collaborative oversight whereby the LGs agree on monies to set aside and managed collectively by them for common services or first-line charges, while the rest is appropriated by the Congress of Councillors in each LG.
“In an innovative sense, the legislative powers – including powers of appropriation and oversight now largely reside with the local government legislature – Congress of Councillors, which is empowered to make bye-laws, which are in the nature of regulations, for the Local Governments (as it is the House of Assembly that is empowered by the Constitution to enact laws to guide the Local Governments).
“Since neither the Constitution nor the Supreme Court judgment prescribes the manner of appropriation, expenditure, and audit/accountability for local government funds, the House of Assembly and the Congress of Councillors fill in the blanks under the new laws pursuant to Section 7 of the Constitution”, the governor stated.
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