Despite the Senate’s resolution to impress it on the federal government to withhold statutory allocations accruable to any of the 774 local government areas still operating under caretaker administration, the Akwa Ibom government has defied the order, checks by LEADERSHIP Weekend, have revealed.
Akwa Ibom is one of the states, including Anambra and several others, still operating interim administration at the third tier.
Worried by what he described as an unconstitutional system at the grassroots administration, Senator Suleiman Kawu (ANPP, Kano), had on Wednesday, May 15, moved a motion calling on President Bola Tinubu to resuscitate the local government system in Nigeria.
“The challenges we face; persistent security threat, rural-urban migration, decaying infrastructure, widespread poverty and unemployment demand a bold action. We believe that empowering the LGAs holds the key to unlocking a brighter future for all Nigerians.
“Successive governments often eroded the local government autonomy, limiting the financial resources and control over decision-making,” he noted in his motion.
Thereafter, a unanimous decision reached with the Senate president, Godswill Akpabio in-council, after affirming the motion, was transmitted to President Tinubu for immediate action to stop further allocations to the affected LGAs.
But currently in Akwa Ibom State, the interim administration inaugurated by Governor Umo Eno to oversee the 31 councils after dissolving the elected officials on December 7, 2023, runs full circle on June 7, 2024, with plans in the works to extend it for further six months.
A letter to this effect addressed to the speaker of the state assembly, Elder Udeme Otong (Abak), Thursday last week by the governor, which made a case for the extension of tenure of the caretaker committees was read before the 26-member assembly by the clerk, Mrs NsikakAbasi Orok, quoting the governor as saying that proper election was not feasible for now as the State Independent Electoral Commission (AKISIEC), was less prepared for the task.
But the speaker was quick to argue that though he agreed for the tenure elongation of the caretaker committees, since there are no elected councilors, the lawmakers must take inventory of their scorecards to ascertain the level of performance before considering reappointment.
