LOCAL GOVERNMENT AUTONOMY: PROF IBE HAILS SUPREME COURT JUDGEMENT, CALLS FOR STRICT IMPLEMENTATION

The Founder of Gregory University Uturu Prof Gregory Ibe has applauded the Supreme Court for giving financial impetus to the autonomy of Local Government Councils.

Speaking in reaction to last week’s landmark judgement of the Supreme Court which reaffirmed the financial independence of the 774 Local Government Councils of Nigeria, Prof Ibe commended the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Prince Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, for his wisdom in “exploiting jurisprudence to deal with an apparently intractable political quagmire which has defied many years of amicable resolution”.

Prof Ibe subsequently enjoined Prince Fagbemi to further strengthen the autonomy of the third tier of government by championing the call for the amendment of the constitution in order to alter the current practice of using state electoral commissions to conduct local government elections.

Insisting that the current practice confers undue advantage to the governors, who according to him, “use executive powers in installing their political stooges in the local councils thereby undermining the independence of the LGAs”, Prof Ibe charged the Minister to work assidously with the National Assembly in amending the constitution to provide for the conduct of Local Government Council elections by the Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC).

Citing personal experience, Prof Ibe outrightly blamed the near comatose state of activities in Local Councils on many years of financial emasculation by state governments. According to him, many private sector powered projects initiated by his Gregory Iyke Foundation were in the past endangered by the absence of credible grassroots administration at the council headquarters. Recalling his efforts to revive the arts, cultures and traditions of Abia by uniting the 17 Local Government Councils of the state through the organization of an annual cultural fiesta tagged Igbo “Uturu Cultural Carnival” in 2008, Prof Ibe decried the apparent lack of governmental partnership, especially by the leaderships of the appointed Transition Committees, thereby leading to the untimely death of the initiative in 2012.
In his words,” While commending the Supreme Court for this landmark judgement, I want to specially thank the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Prince Lateef Fagbemi, SAN for his wisdom in exploiting jurisprudence to deal with an apparently intractable political quagmire which has defied many years of amicable resolution”.

Continuing he said, ” With this victory in the bag, let me further charge the Minister to work assiduously with the National Assembly in amending the constitution in order to provide a level playing field for all political stakeholders in the Local Government Areas. Subsequently, he should do everything to reduce to the barest minimum the control state Governors exert over local government elections, since the current practice affords them the opportunity of using executive powers in installing their political stooges in the local councils, thereby undermining the independence of the LGAs”.

According to him,”It is unfortunate that many Corporate Social Responsibility projects initiated by my Gregory Iyke Foundation suffered untimely deaths because of lack of partnership and governmental coordination by Local Government Councils. For instance, Igbo Uturu Cultural Carnival which we initiated in 2008 as a vehicle to revive, project and celebrate the unique cultures of the 17 Local Government Areas of our state couldn’t survive beyond 2012 because of the absence of independently empowered administrations serving as collaborators and coordinating units at the council headquarters”.

Concluding, Prof Ibe therefore implored political elites in Nigeria to “allow the local councils to breathe by ensuring the implementation of the Supreme Court judgement in order to guarantee expedited grassroots development in the 774 Local Government Areas of Nigeria”.
Sleek Ogwo, ANIPR