If the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN) should have his way, the State Independent Electoral Commission would be no more.
Fagbemi is of the opinion that it has not guarantee a democratic system of electing local government chairmen in the country.
Fagbemi spoke on Monday at a National Discourse on Nigeria’s security challenges and good governance at the local government level.
He said elections into the various local government councils in the country have become a process of imposition and adoption, adding that no matter how bad the party in power in the state perform, they always win all the local government election the states.
He also faulted the constitutional provisions on local government autonomy which he said did not give a clear provision of what the autonomy of the local government should be, while calling for a constitutional amendment to address the challenge.
He explained that the idea of local government stems from the fact that it is the closest government to the people in a democratic setting. For this reason, it must be effective and efficient in the discharge of its responsibilities to the people to enable it to perform its tasks to the satisfaction of the citizen.
According to him, the nearness of local governments to the people places them in a position where they can easily articulate and aggregate the demands of the people. A government operating at the grassroots level is indeed, more likely to be attached to the needs of the people.
He said the Constitution made provisions for Local Government Authorities (LGA) (see section 7), creation of new ones (section 8[3]), fiscal transfers from the federation account section 162], 7[5] and functions [fourth schedule). These provisions were made to safeguard a reasonable level of structural autonomy for local governments in achieving good governance.
The minister said that despite the constitutional provisions that were meant to safeguard local governments’ autonomy, there have been cases of arbitrary dissolution, abolition, or fragmentation of local governments by the higher tiers of government, particularly the state government.
He said the provision of the constitution under section 162 (5-8) on State Joint Local Government Account, which empowered the state Assemblies to decide the revenue to their local government facilitated state encroachment on local revenues. Cases of State hijacking of local government revenues abound from 1999 to date.
He maintained that with these weak constitutional provisions, the lifespan of the local government councils is at the mercy of the State governments. There is no consistent pattern of local government elections. Some State governors dissolved their Councils and appointed Caretaker Committees.
He argued that there are several cases of abuse of the Joint Account by different State governments across Nigeria. This has undermined the financial autonomy of the local government, as well as their ability to deliver on their statutory responsibilities.
He stressed that under a true federal structure, the autonomy of local government is adequately guaranteed, adding that one of the persisting challenges of Nigeria’s federalism is the persistent failure to grant autonomy to local government as the third tier of government.
He said: “Although, the LGAs as the third tier of government in Nigeria and as enshrined in the constitution is ostensibly meant to serve as an institutional framework for effective service delivery to the grassroots and the overall national development; however, LGAs in Nigeria have been performing poorly in provision of essential services to the people due to absence of autonomy.
“The 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria did not provide adequately for the political autonomy of the local governments. The resultant effects of these inadequacies are that the state governments have the discretion to determine the nature, content and direction of local government elections and political activities.
“The failure of the constitution to articulate a clear line of authorities to both the state and local authorities and the continuing debate over the involvement of state governments in distributing local government allocation from the Federation Account has affected the capacity of LGAs to provide essential services at the grassroots.
“Rather than function as a tier of government, LGAs have been operating as an appendage of the State governments in Nigeria. The constitutional provisions on State Joint Local Government Account (section 162 (5-8)) have placed the local government councils in a political bondage.
“Politically, due to the flaws in the electoral process in the country, what is obtained is a virtual selection and not an election of local government functionaries. Local government chairmen are always imposed on the people by the State Governors.
“This erodes the three elements of good governance at the local government level, which are citizens’ participation, transparency and accountability. The imposed chairman will be accountable only to the Governor rather than the people. This results in lack of transparency and non-involvement of the citizens.”
According to Fagbemi, the absence of administrative and fiscal autonomy for LGAs created a dependency situation rather than an independent one conceptualized under a true federal system of government.
“The local governments in many instances have continued to suffer fiscal emasculation in the hands of state governments. In all these unwholesome abuses, Sections 7 and 162 of the 1999 Constitution among others have been an escape route for many State Governments to manipulate the Local government and reduce same to a mere department in the Governor’s office.
“State joint local government account (SJLGA) has been the anti-development instrument used to frustrate every progressive and patriotic action to make the Local Government work since the return of the Country to democracy in 1999.
“Good governance at any level of governance is not possible without the transfer of authority, responsibilities, capacity and resources. This is even more so for the LGAs.
“Accordingly, constitutional reforms should, among other things, aim to: increase fiscal and administrative autonomy of local government system to enhance its effectiveness and efficiency; fiscal autonomy should be balanced with fiscal restraint by strengthening the internal controls system, processes and infrastructure for public financial management; ensure inclusiveness and citizens participation in the governance of LGAs and allow the legislative arms of local governments to decide what they should do with revenue accruing to them.”
