“Since, we run a rentier income system, the place states and native governments rely upon month-to-month allocation from the Federation Account, it’s well-nigh unattainable for any native council created by the state to get the consequential recognition of the Nationwide Meeting for the aim of income allocation as a result of the federal legislators might be divided alongside ethnic and regional traces, with the intention of cornering probably the most monetary assets to their respective states or areas.
Therefore each state will consequently flip each family into a neighborhood council for the aim of receiving statutory vote from the Federation Account. Due to this fact, regardless of the real want for creation of extra native councils in some states, none has efficiently been recognised by the structure since return to civil rule in 1999.
As an example, Lagos State, regardless of its sprawling inhabitants, has 20 native councils. Makes an attempt to create extra councils when the present President served as Governor from 1999 to 2007 have been pissed off on the nationwide stage. Within the swimsuit, Lagos State v Federal Authorities in 2004, the Supreme Courtroom described the brand new native councils created as ‘inchoate’, needing the ultimate recognition within the structure by means of the Nationwide Meeting. Kano State has 44 native governments! Jigawa State, which was carved out from Kano State in 1991, has 27 native councils! Worse nonetheless, Kastina State instructions 34 native councils compared with Lagos, the industrial nerve-centre of the nation, with bigger contribution to the nationwide cake! After all, the extra the native councils, the extra the federal allocation to the state!
Therefore the argument that the present agitation about native authorities autonomy is essentially misplaced with out addressing the wrongs of the previous, perpetrated in the course of the a number of army interregnums, the place the army leaders, dominated from a piece of the nation, disproportionately created, by fiat, native councils in favour of their states and areas.
The clamour or present hysteria for native authorities autonomy ought to have gone pari passu with the dialogue on the sources of income to manage the native administration in Nigeria. With out crude oil from the Niger Delta, majority of the 36 states might be in dire monetary straits and go below. There’s additionally the argument that in view of proliferation of states (36 in quantity), that are largely unviable, ought to full-blown political and administrative constructions exist on the native stage, main to large value of governance?
In view of the above, this newspaper welcomes the decision by the Senate for the convocation of a nationwide dialogue on native authorities system in Nigeria. Such a platform ought to completely appraise the place of native authorities within the socio-economic growth of the nation. Germane points for crucial consideration ought to embody the desirability or in any other case of native council being in a federal (Nigerian) structure or a constitutionally-recognised tier of presidency. Is a full-blown governmental construction on the native stage fascinating, given the proliferation of states, that are burdened by enormous value of governance? Ought to there be uniformity within the operational regime, together with wage or wage construction of native councils throughout the nation, as it’s at the moment the case? What situations will conduce to creation of native authorities in a specific state?
What would be the monetary sustainability of a full-blown native authorities administration within the mild of the Federation Account being topic to the vagaries of oil costs within the worldwide market? How will the justified agitation for useful resource management and return to the fiscal federalism of the independence period affect on native council administration throughout the nation? Will native authorities autonomy promote monetary transparency and accountability and consequently growth or quantity to the third tier of sleaze, peculation or useful resource misappropriation, which is dominant on the federal and state ranges?”
Whereas we respect the salutary intention to make sure that native council funds will not be diverted or mismanaged by the state governments, sadly, the Supreme Courtroom would appear to have overreached itself within the July 11, 2024 determination on the subject of ordering direct funds of federal allocations to native councils. It not solely (unwittingly) upended its 2002 determination in Legal professional-Basic of Ogun State & Ors v Legal professional-Basic of the Federation however would appear to have violated the specific provisions of the Structure besides.
Due to this fact, within the mild of the constitutional dilemma thrown up by the ruling of the apex courtroom vis-à-vis the federal construction of Nigeria, convocation of a nationwide dialogue on native authorities system, as earlier demanded by the Senate, is crucial.
