Is council autonomy feasible?

The controversy over local government autonomy has been raging for some time. This is owing to the fact that the 1999 Constitution is not explicit about the place of local councils in the federation. During the military era, local governments were created arbitrarily and today, only 774 of them are recognised. Also, the position of the law on their autonomy is not clear. MUSA ODOSHIMOKHE examines the politics of council autonomy.

Local government autonomy  has been on the front burner of national discourse for some time. Stakeholders have continued to express divergent views on the matter.  Since the return of civil rule in 1999, the country’s democracy has continued to be referred to as nascent. Observers say it will not grow, without autonomy at the grassroots level. In other words, autonomy at that level of government will impact on the state and the national level.

Such observers base their arguments on the fact that, in a multi-party democracy, it would be unwholesome  to deny the councils, which have their own manifestoes, the opportunity to implement their programmes.

They argue that it is left only for the state government to decide how to disburse funds allocated to councils from the Federation Account. In a situation where different political parties are in-charge at the council and the state levels, the development at the grassroots could be deliberately stalled, by starving them of funds or by compelling them to tow the ruling party’s programme.

The argument is that the administrative machinery closer to the grassroots needs some freedom to decide how to manage its finances, because the inability to freely disburse funds is largely responsible for the low pace development in the councils.

But, the controversy over local governments’ autonomy stems primary from the 1999 Constitution. This is owing to the fact that some sections of the document support their autonomy, while others  appear to back the notion that state governments have the power to decide on how to run their operations.

Thus,  if the proposition for councils’ autonomy must sail through, the constitution must be amended. But, observers say the process of such constitutional amendment may spark legal disputation, because of the passion usually displayed by the proponents and the antagonists of autonomy.

The constitution recognises the 774 local government areas (LGA) created by military fiat and they are the legally entitled to funds from the Federation Account. The process of constitutional amendment is cumbersome and not much has been achieved in that regard since the advent of the Fourth Republic in 1999.

Lagos State pioneered the concept of Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs), when the Bola Tinubu administration created additional 37  LCDAs, to complement the 20 existing local councils. But, the development did not go down well with the federal authorities and monies that accrued to even the 20 constitutionally recognised councils were withheld and later released under the administration of the late Umaru Yar’Adua.

Since then, in states where they exist,  LCDAs not benefit directly from the Federation Account.

Southwest All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain Ayo Afolabi said it was an aberration for the Federal Government to dabble into the local government administration. He said in a true federalism, states are the federating units and the government at the centre deals only with them.

Afolabi said it was the prerogative of the state to determine the number of councils it wants, depending on its ability to generate resources to keep them afloat.

Afolabi said: “As far as I am concerned, I don’t understand what they mean by local government autonomy. Whether they like it or not, local governments belong to states within its geographical sphere.

“So, it is wrong to talk of local government autonomy in the sense in which Nigerians are talking about it. The proper way is for each state to determine how many local governments it wants to create and in what locations.

“The state should be able to know the number of councils it wants to establish. This is purely a state affair; it is not a federal issue. It is an aberration by the Federal Government to start talking about local governments. Councils have no relationship with the central government. It is basically wrong for the Federal Government to look in this direction.”

There is the argument that granting financial liberty to councils may encourage corruption. Those who hold the view say many councils have not given account of the finances at their disposal and that some councils are looking for bailout to clear the backlog of salaries.

The enormity of councils’ financial recklessness is depicted in the huge abandoned projects. These projects do not have direct bearings with the immediate needs at the grassroots.

The Association of Local Government of Nigeria (ALGON) has been in the forefront of the agitation for financial autonomy for councils. To ALGON, it is no longer practicable for councils and state government to operate joint accounts.

The National Vice Chairman of ALGON, Muhammad Mahmud-Aliyu, said the move by the Federal Government to ensure councils’ autonomy is a welcome development. He said the National Assembly should urgently look into the matter, to free councils’ from what he described as financial slavery.

He said the call for financial autonomy for councils has been on the front burner for a long time and that the issue had gone beyond debate.

Aliyu said: “In Kaduna, State,  this is not a new thing. The state government recently gave its nod on councils’ autonomy. When the current executive was elected, a guideline different from what was practiced before was introduced by the government.

“In the new system, our grant came to us directly and I believe every resident of Kaduna State is a living witness that there are tremendous positive changes across the state. I mean changes in the area of projects execution at the grassroots.”

The ALGON leader said he personally awarded contract worth N1 billion, adding that it would not be possible to do this if the Kaduna State Government had tempered with grant meant for the councils.

He added: “There is no need to debate whether councils autonomy will usher in the needed change. It is very natural that when councils access direct funds, they will do more for the grassroots than what is presently obtained.

“When this happens, execution of projects across Nigeria will create job opportunities in the 774 councils.

The National Chairman of United Progressives Party (UPP), Chief Chekwa Okorie, said local governments should enjoy basic privileges like state and federal levels.

Okorie said those saying that councils would mismanage funds allocated to them should have a re-think. He said since council chairmen do not enjoy any immunity, they could be probed while in office.

He said the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) and other anti-graft agencies would always beam the searchlight on the councils’ accounts, if they suspected any foul play.

He said a situation where an elected governor can sack council chairmen without allowing them to complete their tenure was doing a lot of evil to  local governments.

He said: “At the end of the day, the sacked chairman will not be in a proper position to render account of stewardship. So, parts of the challenge are governors who use their positions to create bottlenecks for the councils.

“This is where vibrant party legislative arm should come in. The judiciary should also do its job by ensuring that councils are protected from overzealous state executives that do not mind the consequence of sacking an entire councils for narrow interests. But, unfortunately, the judiciary has not lived up to expectations.”