Stephen Ukandu, Umuahia
As reactions trail the financial autonomy granted local governments by the Supreme Court, a university don, Dr Philips Nto, has said that the court judgment alone, is not enough for the full liberation of the third tier of Government from the grip of State Governors.
According to him, a constitutional reform is required for the local governments to function optimally and serve the people effectively.
“LGs must also be autonomous politically and administratively,” he added.
The former Commissioner for Finance and Economic Planning in Abia State, noted that the judgment of the Supreme Court is only the beginning of a journey to completely remove the local governments from the control of the governors.
He advocated the abrogation of the Local Government Service Commission so that governors would no longer have the powers to appoint heads of service, treasurers ,auditors, and other key staff of the local governments.
He said that “until such a drastic step is taken, Governors will either by election or selection put their stooges who will do their bidding, irrespective of the so called Financial autonomy.”
Dr Philips Nto who is a lecturer at Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, also noted that while it is desirable for the Independent National Electoral Commission to conduct elections into local governments, there is no guarantee that the governors would not manipulate the elections to install their stooges.
He insisted that it is only when the local governments achieve political and administrative independence from the governors that the system will be sanitised.
He called on the National Assembly to take a cue from what the Supreme Court has done and ensure that the much needed constitutional reforms are carried out to achieve full autonomy for the local governments.
“The current provision which established local government service commission does not sit well for full autonomy for local governments. So, something should be done about it,” he argued.
The university don however commended the Federal Government for its courage in curtailing the excesses of some governors who had converted local government funds “as their pocket money.”
