By Olasunkanmi Onifade

A former federal lawmaker, Chief Sam Onuigbo, has urged Nigerians to demand the implementation of Local Government Autonomy from their political leaders.

Onuigbo, a former member of House of Representatives, said this during an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Wednesday.

According to him, it is unfortunate that one month after the Supreme Court ruling of July 11, 2024, on the autonomy of the third tier of government remained a mirage.

The member, Governing Board, North East Development Commission (NEDC), alleged that state governors remained bottleneck to the implementation of the ruling.

Onuigbo, therefore, urged the citizens to hold their elected officials accountable for the realisation of the local government autonomy.

“It is up to the people to begin to ask those questions, extract responses from their local government chairmen and use that as a basis because right now, it is still guesswork.

“When you go to many local governments, you see basically nothing happening.

“But when you put together the amount that they have received over the months you see that it is running into billions of naira. So where has the money gone to,’’ he said

He said state government had held onto over 4.5 trillion naira meant for local councils in spite of the court’s ruling.

He said the Supreme Court’s judgment aimed at promoting grassroots development and democratisation by ensuring local governments receives their allocations directly from the first charge.

Onuigbo said the implementation had been slow due to the existing constitutional frameworks, particularly Section 162, which provides for joint state and local government accounts.

“The Federal Government has done what it’s supposed to do.

“The federal government has also gone ahead to make sure that we have a transparent process, for which we have to commend Mr President (Bola Tinubu) for what he has been able to do,’’ he said.

Onuigbo suggested that citizens and civil society organisations should hold their elected officials accountable by asking questions about the allocation and utilisation of local government funds.

“The delay in implementing local government autonomy has raised concerns about the potential for increased corruption and mismanagement at the local government level.

“Civil society organisations and local government officials have welcomed the Supreme Court’s decision, viewing it as a step towards fulfilling the constitutional mandate of local government autonomy, he said.

Onuigbo appreciated Tinubu for being transparent with the federation account by making sure that the sub national governments were allocated what is due to them. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

Edited by Uche Anunne