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Judiciary

LG autonomy: Councilors forum hails supreme Court judgment

 

By Sumaila Ogbaje

The National Councilors Forum of Nigeria has commended the Federal Government and the Supreme Court for the judgement affirming the financial autonomy of  Local Governments.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the apex court had on Thursday held that the 20.6 per cent of the federation account allocation must be directly paid to local government accounts henceforth, bypassing state control.

The National President of the forum, Yusuf Baba, while briefing newsmen in Abuja, said the failure of some state governments to put democratically elected local government system in place was a deliberate subversion of the 1999 Constitution.

Baba said that some state governors have refused to put in place a democratically elected local government system even where no state of emergency had been declared to warrant the suspension of democratic institutions in the state.

According to him, to continue to disburse funds from the federation account to such state for non-existing democratically elected local government system is to undermine the sanctity of the 1999 constitution.

“Consequently, we, the leadership of the National Councilors Forum of Nigeria hereby present ourselves today, to rejoice with the Federal Government, the entire local governments of the federation and ultimately the Supreme Court, for this success of granting the local governments their constitutional rights and autonomy to that effect,” he said.

The forum’s president added that there would no longer be excuses on the part of the local councils chairmen and Councilors not to perform and deliver good governance at the grassroots.

According to him, if the local government councils are getting their funds directly, people at the grassroots should expect good governance and dividends of democracy especially through projects and infrastructure.

On the conduct of local council elections, Baba said that state electoral bodies should further be strengthened to deliver credible elections and faulted the call for INEC to conduct local government elections.

NAN reports that the Apex Court declared that it is unconstitutional for state governors to hold funds allocated for local government administrations.

The seven-member panel, in the judgment delivered by Justice Emmanuel Agim, declared that the 774 local government councils in the country should manage their funds themselves.

The apex court held that the power of the government is portioned into three arms of government; the federal, the state and the local government.

The court further declared that a state government has no power to appoint a caretaker committee and a local government council is only recognisable with a democratically elected government.

The court also held that the use of a caretaker committee amounts to the state government taking control of the local government and is in violation of the 1999 Constitution.(NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

Edited by AbdulFatai Beki/Sadiya Hamza

Economy/Business

Palliative: FG approves N5bn for states, LGs

By Ismail Abdulaziz

The Federal Government has approved the disbursement of N5billion to states, local government councils and the FCT to cushion the effects of the subsidy removal on petrol.

Gov. Babagana Zulum of Borno said this when he spoke at the end of the National Economic Council (NEC) meeting on Thursday in Abuja.

He said that the fund was for the purchase of 100,000 bags of rice, 40,000 bags of maize as well as fertilisers.

He said that the funds was on basis of 52 per cent grants and 48 per cent as loans to be repaid to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) within 20 months by the states and local councils.

He said that the council commenced President Bola Tinubu and the CBN for the various efforts aimed at reducing the impact of the removal of the subsidy on the citizens.

Zulum also said that the federal government had sent food items to states bordering Niger Republic to mitigate the influx of refugees coming into the states.

The states, he said, were also given five trucks of rice each by the federal government last week for distribution to vulnerable Nigerians in their domain.

“Furthermore, Council has noted the package that was announced by the president in order to cushion the effect of subsidy removal, amounting to about N500billion.

“This fund has to be distributed to the following sectors MSMEs, industrial sector, about N125billion will go to cash transfers, agricultural sector as well as gas expansion for buses.

“Because of the increasing cost of fossil fuel, the federal government intends to establish more gas stations in Nigeria, procure more gas powered buses, CNG buses, as well as electric buses in order to cushion the effect of the subsidy removal.”

The states, he said, has also been directed to negotiate with the labour unions leadership on the palliatives, adding that a committee of governors had been set up for this purpose.

H said that council recognised that these interventions were short term solutions, adding that long lasting solutions were being worked out.

Gov. Yahaya Bello of Kogi said that the NEC discussed the issue of impact of the 2022 flood on states and what needed to be done to victims.

He said that the NEC urged the federal government to immediately dispatch relief materials to the flood victims in the states.

He said that the delay in the disbursement of relief was due to some states that had yet to respond to request of providing data on the flood situation in their areas.

Gov. Seyi Makinde also said that the NEC observed a minute silence for the officers and men of the armed forces killed in helicopter crash in Niger State.

He said that the council also advised the government to take immediate actions and policies to stabilise the economy, lower unemployment rate and improve investment flow to the country.(NAN)

Edited by Ali Baba-Inuwa

General News

Bauchi Govt spends N400m on rural power supply

By Auwalu Birninkudu
The Bauchi State Government has spent N400 million on replacement and installation of damaged electrical equipment in seven local government areas to improve power supply.
Malam Mukhtar Gidado, the senior special assistant on media to Gov. Bala Mohammed, made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Bauchi on Wednesday.
He said the local government are Ningi, Giade, Jama’are, Darazo, Katagum, Ganjuwa and Bauchi.
”More local government areas would be included soon.
”We commend the management of the state rural electrification agency for initiating, supervising and excellent execution of  the job,” he added.
He said the project involved replacement of damaged electrical wires, poles and replacement of transformers and other complimentary accessories that would ensure uninterrupted power supply in the benefiting communities.
“The whole idea is to boost the economy of the people in the communities as well provide dividends of democracy as promised during  campaigns,” he said.
He urged the people to set up surveillance and monitoring committees to ensure protection of the electrical installations and other facilities provided by the government in their respective communities. (NAN)