The National Assembly is still expressung worry over the rejection of the Local Government Autonomy by the State Houses of Assembly.
According to the National Assembly, they have been working hard to ensure that development reaches the grassroots adding that each time the bill that will give the Local Governments get to the State Houses of Assembly, it is rejected by some states.
According to the Chairman, Senate Committee on Federal Character, Abba Moro, it is unfortunate that the people the local government autonomy is meant to serve directly are rejecting it despite the efforts of the National Assembly.
“It is only in our country that a state assembly will reject a bill that will give it autonomy.
“Local government is the foundation of government. The aggregation of development in the local government will fastrack development,” Abba Moro said.
According to him, “I was a local government chairman and during our time, I was the ALGON chairman in Benue State. LG had unfiltered access to their funds.
“But it is like we left with the local governments. Because of the nature of our society, in the face of emasculation, NULGE is not doing anything. They maintain a muted silence. Did they maintain silence when they sought the position of leadership?
“I sponsored one of the bills of the LG autonomy that was rejected. As long as I remain in the national assembly, I will continue to return that bill.
“Local government is the bedrock of national development. We’ve not got it right that is why we are where we are. In the face of natural resources, bad management of our resources is the reason we are where we are.
“We need to constantly remind ourselves that we need to do the right thing. We must ensure LG get their autonomy,” Moro added.
We want government institutions to work optimally because the economy of the world is in a single digit or global village.
Also speaking, the Senate Committee Chairman on Special Duties, Sen Yusuf Abubakar Yusuf said democracy must start with the mobilization of the grassroots and ensuring that the local governments work.
“If not, we will continue to get things wrong. If you impose from the top to bottom, there will be a crisis.
“We must harness the potentials at the grassroots. We have been trying at the National Assembly to ensure that local governments get their autonomy and get their resources.
“They’ve been blocked which has closed down a lot of potentials. At the national assembly, we couldn’t get the two thirds from the states for the passage of the LG autonomy.
“When it was presented in the state, NULGE even came and protested at the national assembly but in the end, the LG autonomy did not pass in the state.
“The local government is locked. People can’t understand what democracy is all about,” Yusuf said.
Also, the Chairman, House Committee on Federal Character and Intergovernmental Affairs, Hon Akin Alabi, said Local government chairmen hardly do projects now because there is no funds available to them.
“The more we give them freedom, the more we empower the local governments and the more the development will go to the grassroots,” Alabi said, adding that NULGE even rejected a bill to give them autonomy.
“They kept quiet even when the national assembly members were fighting for the freedom of the local governments,” Alabi said, adding that they will push the bill again.
The national assembly should stop crying about the past. Whatever that happened, lawmakers who are returning to the 10th assembly should ensure that they repackage the bill, lobby the governor rs and the state houses of assembly members to see the need and the importance of having a local government that is not only independent, but financially independent.
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