LG autonomy will attract quality leadership, allow political inclusiveness

Former Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Ade Dosunmu, has commended the federal government for pursuing full autonomy for local governments (LG) in Nigeria.

Mr Dosunmu, a public policy expert, in a statement on Tuesday, noted that the initiative will attract more quality personalities to take part in running of local governments, adding that it will also give room for political inclusiveness.

“This will invariably reduce the burden on Federal and State Governments, allowing them to focus on broader policy issues,” Mr Dosunmu noted.

The Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, recently filed a suit at the Supreme Court against the 36 state governors, seeking full autonomy for local government councils as the third tier of government in the country.

The suit, marked SC/CV/343/2024, requests the Supreme Court to prohibit governors from unlawfully dissolving democratically elected local government councils. The Supreme Court has fixed 30 May for the hearing.

Concerns for LG autonomy

According to Mr Dosunmu, granting full autonomy to local governments will be “a game changer in our democratic experience.”

“There is no doubt that our Democratic journey has been very slow due to lack of autonomy for the third tier of government as practised in other Democratic climes,” he said.

However, the policy expert pointed out that the AGF should bear in mind the ambiguity in section 7 of the 1999 Constitution, which recognises local governments as the third tier of government but also gives some functions to state government and state Houses of Assembly regarding local government administration.

“This and other contradictory clauses need to be amended to reflect the complete financial and administrative autonomy as it’s been operated in other federal systems,” he said.

“I commend the leadership of President Bola Tinubu, for this bold step and urge him to go all out to break this jinx by removing the clog in the wheel of our development and progress.

“You can imagine the impact that will be created if 774 local governments are independent and free from the apron spring of the state governments.”

He added that the fact that every Nigerian lives in a local government underscores the strategic importance of granting full autonomy to the local governments.

Other benefits of LG’s autonomy

Further highlighting the benefits of LG autonomy, Mr Dosunmu said it will reduce the burden on federal and state governments, allowing them to focus on broader policy issues.

He said it will give LG the power to govern and make decisions independently which can lead to efficient service delivery, and also foster transparency and accountability.

According to him, it will also strengthen democratic institutions by ensuring a more equitable distribution of power and resources.

“In summary, granting full autonomy to local governments in Nigeria will lead to better governance, increased citizen participation, improved service delivery, and accelerated development at the grassroots level,” he added.

More on AGF suit

In the suit, the AGF seeks an order to ensure that funds for local governments are directly channelled from the federation account, as against the alleged unlawful joint accounts created by governors.

The AGF also begged the court to stop governors from appointing caretaker committees to run local governments, emphasising the need for constitutionally recognised elected councils.

Mr Fagbemi further sought an injunction, restraining the governors, their agents and privies, from receiving, spending or tampering with funds meant for the benefit of local governments when no democratically elected councils exist.

The suit is based on 27 grounds, arguing that the 1999 Constitution mandates a democratically elected local government system and that the governors’ actions subvert this requirement.