3rd December, 2022
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has called on State Houses of Assembly to speedily ratify the bill seeking total autonomy and devolution of powers to the Local Government Areas in the country.
The vice president made the call on Friday while delivering the “Distinguished Annual Lecture” of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPPS), Kuru, near Jos.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the lecture was titled ”Subnational Local Governance in Africa: Rethinking Policies, Frameworks and Institutions”.
Osinbajo, who was represented by Dr Chris Ngige, the Minister of Labour and Employment, said that local authorities play key roles towards nation building, but lamented that the third tier of government had over time been neglected and undervalued.
He maintained that the ongoing constitutional amendment seeking to allocate more powers to the local governments is a step in the right direction.
“While the roles of state governments and their scope of authority appear very well appreciated, local governments remain, in my view, quite undervalued, needing more attention from all of us, better funding, organisational and high-quality leadership.
”As we speak, a bill for local government autonomy is striving hard to pass the threshold of 24 votes required from state Houses of Assembly, a key milestone towards its passage”, Osinbajo said.
The vice president argued that local government fiscal autonomy would promote peace and security in the country, adding that people in rural communities understand their terrain better and know how to deploy resources towards tackling security challenges.
He insisted that the yearning for local government autonomy is a step in the right direction and called on state assemblies to expedite actions toward ratifying the autonomy bill.
He added that the advantages that come with local government autonomy are obviously enormous, adding that it would further consolidate Nigeria’s democratic system.
(NAN)