….Urges EFCC, ICPC and NFIU to track local government allocation
The Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees has asked the anti-graft agencies to track the local government allocation in the past seven years, noting that state governors have continued to divert and misappropriate local government funds.
The union renewed its calls for the speedy passage of the local government autonomy bill, arguing that this would ensure financial independence for the 774 councils in the country and also address the challenges of insecurity and unemployment.
Speaking at a press conference in Abuja on Thursday, the President of NULGE, Mr Ambali Olatunji,
lamented that only 10 states had passed the LG autonomy bill.
While encouraging other states to endorse bill as quickly as possible, NULGE boss cautioned state governors against inducing and conniving with the legislators to stop the passage of the bill.
Olatunji said, “The governors are elected to govern the state as a whole, local government chairmen are elected to govern the local government. It is painful when you see the amount allocated. Sometimes, the local governments are allocated up to N120 million, N90mn N80mn (from the federation account). Ask yourself what gets to the local government. At times, it can be N10mn, N5mn; some don’t get more than N2mn. Where is the money going? We call on the EFCC, ICPC and NFIU to track local government allocation in the last seven years and tell us what has been done with them.
“What we are witnessing today; be it harrowing poverty, joblessness, hopelessness, banditry, or insurrection has a deep root in the lack of a functional local government system. Every security challenge is local; the solution to it is local.
“If the local government has been focused and efficient, all these rural roads would have been upgraded; they can also organise local security and intelligence gathering. We will end insecurity if every community is safe in the hands of local security,” he noted.
