Abia Assembly debunks passing legislation to work against LG Autonomy, describes report as utter falsehood

The Abia state House of Assembly has strongly refuted claims emanating from certain quarters that it passed a legislation tagged the Central Management Agency for funds of LGA purportedly to usurp the funds ment for the LGAs contrary to pronouncements of the Supreme Court granting full autonomy to the LGAs.

Speculation emerged last Wednesday following reports that certain members of the Assembly had staged a walkout to protest the purported bill. The incident sparked widespread concerns that the Assembly might be attempting to undermine the financial independence of LGAs, as established by the Supreme Court.

However, in a briefing at the Assembly complex in Umuahia, the Deputy Speaker and Chairman of the House Committee on Media, Rt. Hon. Austin Okezie Nmereghini addressed the rumors, categorically denying any such bill had been discussed or passed stressing that it was the handiwork of Mischief makers whom he said were bent on spreading false rumors to create acrimony in the state.

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The Deputy Speaker further cleared the air on the controversy surrounding the passage of the bill titled H.A.B 17, the Abia State Rural Access Road Agency (RARDA) bill as he emphasized that the bill, an Executive proposal, seeks mainly to establish an agency for rural road construction across the state and does not in any way stand in the way of LGA autonomy.

Okezie also highlighted that the proposed bill is in line with the World Bank-supported Rural Access and Mobility Project (RAMP) which will attract counterpart funding from individual partnering states across Nigeria including Abia.
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