The senator representing Abia North, Sen. Orji Uzor Kalu has applauded the judgement of Supreme Court directing autonomy for local governments in the country.
The former governor of Abia also appealed to the Federal Government to consider using Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the conduct of local government elections in the country.
At the moment, local government elections are conducted by states Independent electoral commissions set up by the governors in their respective states.
They have been accused of taking total control of the local government electoral process without allowing the electoral bodies autonomy, including financial.
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In a landmark judgement earlier in the week read by Justice Emmanuel Agim, Supreme Court ordered the Federal Government to immediately start the direct payment of local government funds to the latter’s exclusive accounts.
Reacting through a statement, Kalu who is the Chairman, Senate Committee on Privatisation, noted, “The Supreme Court judgement on the autonomy of local governments is one that should be hailed and applauded, especially for the courage and independence shown by the judiciary.
“The Supreme Court being a policy court did what is right and beneficial to the society. While it may look like interference in the states’ affairs, we should accept that all the calls for end of insecurity, kidnappings and banditry have just begun with this autonomy granted to the local governments”.
The former Chief Whip of the Senate added, “When the local governments are in total control of their funds, there is a flow of resources and activities in the local areas. For instance, when I was governor between1999-2007, the autonomy of my local government chairmen was a major breakthrough to the success of my administration. The Local Government Chairmen built roads and gave contracts to local contractors. The Chairmen were able to take full responsibility for what happened in their local government and crime was reduced to the barest minimum.”
Kalu used the opportunity to appeal to the Federal Government, “I will also appeal to the Federal Government to consider making a case for local government elections to be conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) instead of the State Independent Electoral Commission ( SIEC) . This will further strengthen the autonomy of the local governments and reduce the pressure on the state governments. When governance gets to the grassroots, it becomes easier to identify and hold the leaders responsible and accountable.”
He further made an appeal to the state governors in the country, “I sincerely appeal to the 36 state governors to accept this judgement as a victory for democracy, victory for themselves and victory for all Nigerians”, and commended the President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the Attorney General of the Federation, Prince Lateef Olasunkanmi Fagbemi SAN and all the Supreme Court Justices that played a role in “this landmark achievement” for Nigerians.
