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The Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) has declared war with states which local government areas are run by caretaker committees appointed by the governors.
Findings by LEADERSHIP WEEKEND reveal that only ten out of the 36 states in the country have democratically elected chairmen and councillors while 26 states are run by sole administrators.
NULGE’s head of information at its headquarters, Comrade Mohammed Oruma, who spoke for the national president, Comrade Ibrahim Khaleel, told our correspondent in an exclusive interview that the union had drawn up plans to confront the governors on the matter.
Oruma lamented that the governors had crippled the operations of the Association of Local Government of Nigeria (ALGON), by using surrogates as local government administrators
He disclosed that NULGE had concluded plans to hold a national campaign in Benin city to draw attention to the problems affecting local government administration.
The NULGE official said that the union had also sought the assistance of the National Assembly and the Nigerian Bar Association in checking the overbearing influence of the governors on local government administration in Nigeria.
‘’Already, the union has got support from the National Assembly and a bill seeking to restore the autonomy of the local government as enshrined in the constitution has been sponsored. We will not rest on our oars until we achieve our objectives.
We intend to use all the options within the law to achieve our aim. This deprivation is the reason why local governments are largely undeveloped,’’ Oruma said.
The chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Hon. Zakari Mohammed confirmed in an interview that a bill seeking to promote local government autonomy in the country had passed through second reading.
If passed into law, states would no longer control the funds of local governments in the country or select their operatives as is the case at the moment.
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