By Musiliu Saheed Olawale
It is no longer news that the National Assembly has passed into law the Local Government Financial Autonomy, which will enable all 774 Local Governments across the Federation to receive their monthly allocation from FAAC directly into their various financial purses without any intermediary or diversion along the way.
I commend the apex court, the National Assembly, and the Presidency for this determined step; history will forever be kind to them.
It is necessary to call the attention of all States and the National Assembly to the recent verdict of the Supreme Court, which granted financial autonomy to all our Local Governments, as well as the move of the National Assembly to grant INEC the authority to conduct Local Government elections henceforth, which will lead to the scrapping and nullification of all existing LCDA’s created across each State.
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To set the record straight, it is important to remember that the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, was the architect of the modern creation of LCDAs in the early 2000s during his tenure as the Governor of Lagos State between 1999 and 2007. The aim was to revitalize the importance of grassroots in our democracy and bring governance closer to smaller communities.
Respecting the rule of law, it is also important to maintain the legacy of our past heroes by upholding and sustaining their efforts in the creation of more LCDAs across each State of the Federation.
Each Local Government can continue coexisting with their LCDAs even with the current monthly allocation, based on their various agreements on the previously used sharing formula.
Based on this perspective, I am writing to call on the leadership of the 36 State Assemblies to come together, work together, and conclude on maintaining and sustaining the State-created LCDAs.
ABOUT THE WRITER
Musiliu Saheed Olawale
Writing from Ayedire Local Government of Osun State, Nigeria
08137524576, 08107516117
