In response to the recent Supreme Court ruling affirming financial autonomy for Local Government Administration in Nigeria, Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State has bared his mind, lamenting that the ruling of the Apex Court has created a Lacuna between the decision and the Constitution of the Federal Republic.
Consequently, Governor Makinde at an emergency consultative stakeholders meeting held on Monday has set up two committees; Technical and Legal Committees to review the Supreme Court judgement.
Present at the consultative stakeholders meeting are members of Oyo state chapter, Association of Local Government Administration (ALGON), Attorney General of the state and Commissioner for Justice, Barrister Abiodun Aikomo, Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters, Otunba Ademola Ojo, and Chairman House of Assembly Committee on Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters.
Others in attendance are representatives of the Nigeria Labor Congress (NLC), Trade Union Congress (TUC), Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE), and Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NUP).
Makinde at the meeting held at the Executive Chamber of the Governor’s Office on Monday, July 15 disclosed that the stakeholders engagement aimed to discuss the decision of the Supreme Court as it concerns financial autonomy for the local government Councils.
While lamenting the challenges the Supreme Court judgement portends for the stat government, Makinde insisted that the problem confronting the nation was not how to share money but how to become more productive and create economic prosperity, stressing that before his administration came on board, leave bonuses were last paid in 2017.
He added that his administration paid that of 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023 while highlighting some of the efforts to deliver good governance at the grassroots, the governor added that Primary health care facilities, inner roads among others were all in bad shape and that he has continuously worked collaboratively with the LGs to deliver dividends of democracy to the people.
“Let me thank you all for joining this important consultative meeting. I want us to discuss the decision of the Supreme Court as it concerns financial autonomy of the local government councils.
“I believe a lacuna has been created between the decision and the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. We all swore to uphold the constitution but the law is the law. If the law is in conflict, it behoves on us to look for our own home-grown solution that can ensure that we have transparency and operate with our people. This is because when two elephants are fighting, the grass will suffer.
“Let me also recall that since the beginning of this administration, we have conducted two local government elections and I say to say ‘did I not tell you’? When I was sworn in, I dissolved the local government. The Supreme Court just basically said to us that governors don’t have the right to dissolve the councils but why did I dissolve them then?
“It was because elections were held into the LCDAs and the same Supreme Court has basically now said that only 774 LGAs in Nigeria. So, there is confusion in the land, but when you have confusion, what it means is that the structure is shaking and we have to remove much of those confusions as much as possible.
“So, we will be outlining the major challenges we have at the local government areas, so that we can develop our own solution. And the the challenges of addressed, will ensure that we have seamless implementation of the process that can allow Oyo State to continue to …
“So, on the issue of LG elections in Oyo State, we don’t have caretaker committees at the local level. We planned the elections in a way that not a single day was given out. We have a responsible government in Oyo State, we don’t need the federal government to tell us what to do. We know what is good and we know what is good for our people.
“We were able to clear those salary arrears. We paid N18bn in pension and gratuities over these period. We upgraded about 209 PHCs, equipped about 264, completed 60 model schools. We constructed and renovated hundreds of primary school classrooms and fixed some Omer roads but there are still challenges that we have to address. We still have backlog of gratuities and pension.
“The local government is owing about N55bn in pension and gratuities. We are developing infrastructure that would push the economy and raise the living standard of their people and push their economy towards sustainable goals. But for us, at that time, our priority was not to deploy resources. What I am hearing right now is that our problem is not also money but how to share it. But I insist that our problem is not how to share money but how to bake a bigger cake and bring our people out of hunger and poverty and stop the anger in the land.
