By Henrietta Ashikodi
Hon. Ibe Michael Nwoke, a former Abia State chairman of the forum of Association of Local Government of Nigeria, ALGON, has expressed satisfaction over the supremecourt ruling on autonomy for Local Government Administration adding that his advocacy for local government funds to be remitted directly to their accounts and managed accordingly cost him his job.
Nwoke, who spoke on behalf of the chairmen shortly after the ruling by the supreme court, described the ruling as a vindication for most of them who fought for the independence of the local government administration in Nigeria.
He expressed appreciation to God that at long last he has been vindicated by the judgement adding that the granting of full autonomy especially the over ruling of states joint accounts with local governments was a hard reality that has come true.
He said, “recall when I was the ALGON Chairman in Abia State, one of the reasons I was removed was because I personally fought for the autonomy of local government administration as an elected chairman in the last adminstration.
“I queried why an elected chairman would answer to a stooge of the governor and some of my entitlements were withheld till date but am happy that today history has vindicated me and full autonomy granted to local governments in Nigeria.”
“We must appreciate President Ahmed Bola Tinubu for this great feat. Indeed posterity would be kind to him for this singular act”.
He said the judgement is not just the best judgement by the judiciary that has offered a ray of hope for the masses who yearn for even development across their local governments but a wake up call to those aspiring to be elected into that position as excuses would no longer be tolerated for lack of performance.
He maintained that with power now returning to the people, anyone who could not perform for the number of years elected would also be voted out by those who elected them in the first place.
“This ruling today now opens up the space for even development of our local communities. I am most excited that the judiciary looked at the issues raised critically and saw the need to grant full autonomy to local governments.
“What this means is that excuses for non performance owing to undue interference by state governors would no longer be tolerated as the chairmen are now accountable to their people and not governors.”
“It also returns power to the people to decide who would pilot their affairs over a period of time”, he added.
The forum also commended president Ahmed Bola Tinubu for supporting the call for local government autonomy in Nigeria and prayed God to grant him more wisdom in the coming years.
They also used the forum to urge the national assembly to expedite actions on the amendment of the constitution to allow the Independent National Electoral Commission conduct Local Government elections while abolishing the powers of the state Government Electoral Commissions.
ALCON called for speedy implementation of the judgement as well as conduct of local government elections across the 774 local government areas of the federation.
Discover more from The STATESMAN Newspaper
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Post Disclaimer
THE STATESMAN NEWSPAPER make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the stories hereon as the statements are purely of the news makers.
All rights reserved. This material, and other digital content on this website, may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or in part without prior express written permission from THE STATESMAN NEWSPAPER.
Contact:
