Local Government Autonomy: Welcome To A New Nigeria

By Shehu Bashir Esq.

The last ten days have been very hectic for me, junketing from one place to the other in search of daily bread. I hardly have ten minutes typing time. The quest to make Nigeria great has been taking my time. I have been hustling for Nigeria so that those with power and influence will not have the grounds to oppress and gloat some of us who are yet to be blessed with power and influence.

But today, I am a bit free to place my fingers on the keypad, to continue from where I stopped on local government autonomy, to do a brief post event analysis with the aim of suggesting other steps that need to be taken to advance the cause of full autonomy – electoral and political.

First, as a responsible and conscionable Nigerian, who knows the voice of the truth from the rant of falsehood when he ears one, I must commend and congratulate the President, Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu for daring to and freeing the local governments from the chokehold of the governors who have turned the LG to cows for their milk industry. This achievement has no doubt changed the entire landscape for local government administration, ensuring at best, a more efficient and accountable grassroot development assurance, moving forward.

Having said that, it is important to note that the judgement of the Supreme Court is not just limited to the full financial autonomy of the local government, it also gave, in principle, a lead to further and broader autonomy to the local government. Though some of us were optimistic that the conduct of the local government election, on who would have the right to do same would be adjudicated upon and given a definite pronouncement as done with financial autonomy, the judgement of the Supreme Court, however, is very clear on certain things:

1) The governors cannot again determine the tenure of a local government chairman. This has solved the arbitrary and illegal dissolution of legally elected local government officials.

2) The governor cannot appoint any illegal and slavish bootlickers as chairman of council again. Thus has ended illegal constitution of transition committee.

3) The tenure of the chairman shall now be based on the lawful three years tenure as provided for in the constitution without any governor waking up from the wrong side of his bed to dissolve a constitutionally elected administration.

4) All electioneering activities leading to the conduct of local government elections, from nomination, to conduct of primary election to the general election is no more in the hands of any governor. No governor can hand pick candidates again without conducting proper primaries. All activities leading to the conduct of local government election will now be monitored, assessed and reviewed by government agencies for error proof. INEC would have to step in somehow.

5) Technically speaking, all subsisting elections, primary or general, leading to the choosing of the current candidates to any local government council position, be it chairmanship or councilorship is deemed illegal and of no legal effect. Therefore, by the pronouncement of the Supreme Court, the system has been set to default mode. Any such cantankerous opposition to this legal fact would have a stand on the witness box in the court for contempt.

6) The full financial autonomy as granted by the highest court in the land has freed the body and souls of the local government from the governors who have turned that to their slavedom. Local government leadership will now enjoy independence from the governors as the governors do enjoy freedom from the control of president.

7) Henceforth, no chairman shall be answerable to the governor on the administration of his/her local government. Such will now be answerable to the people along with the eagle eyes of the “eco fanta chally chally” watching the financial etiquette of the local government administrators from the sky.

8. You cannot give what you don’t have. As now determined by the Supreme Court, the governors do not have the power to appoint local governments leadership, therefore, any such decision taken before now would be so declared illegal, null and void and of no effect. The next line of action is to enforce to the later the judgement of the Supreme Court. We have to start de novo.

9) In order words, if a governor does not have the power again over the finances of the local government, and has been stripped of the autocracy to remove legally elected representatives, he cannot in fair conscience be allowed to sustain any such illegally subsisting local government administration. In order words, all previously conducted illegal elections should be declared null and void and new process be started. It should have been an automatic discontinuation of any such process where the governor has interfered with the process before now.

SPECIAL NOTE:
For those querying the powers of the Supreme Court to “change” the so called constitutional provision on joint accounts between the states and local governments, such should go and read more about mischief rule of interpretation in law. One of the most important role of the court is the interpretation of the law. This, the Supreme Court has done without equivocation.

It is worthy of note to state that even though a lot has been achieved on the local government autonomy, a lot still needs to be done. One critical steps that MUST be taken now is for the President, GCFR, to present an Executive Bill to the NASS for amendment of that section of the constitution which establishes state electoral bodies for same to be deleted. This is to give credence to the Supreme Court judgement in order to avoid unnecessary litigation in court.

Having come this far, we should not leave any stone unturned. As it is, unless checked and restrained, the governors would be waiting on their usually manipulation of state electoral bodies to determine who wins the local government elections. Otherwise, the power to appoint the leadership of state electoral bodies should be taken away from the governors. This will free the state electoral bodies from the control of the governors and determination of local government election results by these governors.

It is also worthy of note to say with emphasis that local government administration is a serious business. The council is not one that should be left in the hands of half-baked literate with subservient mindset. Local government administration must be led by serious minded people with full understanding of good governance and accountability. The Mayors of counties in Western countries are not some of the low breed that we have leading our local government councils. We cannnot be giving government office leadership positions to the people with half education and expect to have quality administration.

Local government leadership is where we should have refined minds from all walks of life. In those days, there was this claim that only the taxi drivers and “agbero” dance to Fuji music. But now, lawyers are vibing to Fuji music. Even the President is a lover of Fuji music. In order words, professionals like Engineers. Doctors, Lawyers, and professors from all fields should be bracing up to contest for and become local government chairmen. The mentality that the leadership is for low class people should be erased. Whatever is required to govern a nation is even more required to govern a local government.

We are gradually moving to that era where the minimum academic qualifications to contest for any political position would be HND/Bachelor Degree.

Another important constitutional amendment need is the provision for requirements for minimum qualification for any position. Anybody who does not have the HND or Bachelor’s Degree as minimum qualification should not have business in holding any political office. If a candidate for a GL 08 job position requires a university degree to be eligible, a governor or minister that will lead us in a higher position should not be struggling to present a valid O’Level (SSCE) certificate.

As we enter this new era, I am looking forward to quality service delivery from the local government officials. They are now going to be more accountable to the people at the grassroots. The people are going to be more interested in what their chairmen are doing and they are going to call them to account without fear of intimidation.

The joke making the rounds now is that many puppet chairmen would still want to do “chali-chali” to the their governor by sharing the local government money with them. Anybody who does that will have his knees bruised for slavish genuflection.

You cannot claim to like the outcome of a process you opposed. Nigerians are not dullards. If you have not stood up to speak for the full autonomy of local government or have been subtly working to undermine it, you might have lost your privilege to clap your hands in the celebration of the freedom.

This also goes to all the so called local government council aspirants who have shrunk their necks in cowardice and could not say assertively where they belonged on local government autonomy when the contest was on, shame on all of your hypocrisy. No one with a lost voice for justice deserve a seat in the temple of justice.

It is a fact that some of these governors are pained. They have lost a big deal of their unethical financial dealings. Majority of them may henceforth struggle to make certain financial obligations. As such, they may want to device other means, albeit illegally, to curry an advantage to themselves. They must be reminded that no government official comes to office on the platter of their whims and caprices. The people voted for them. The same people will not tolerate any illegal manipulation of the system.

The constitutional interpretation as done by the Supreme Court, giving birth to a new dynamic of law is superior to any other intention. All matters concerning local government administration are no more in the hands of any governor. Any overt or covert attempt to do anything to the contrary will incur the wrath of the law.

It is important to note that history will remember this time as a battle time and it will salute all the warriors who won the battle as patriots. On this, there is no doubt that the name of President Tinubu will be written in gold as the true champion of grassroots development. Some Presidents before him have fought to achieve this without success.

The call for the judicial interpretation and subsequent pronouncement of this judgment is the most lawful method to rein in an unlawful but seemingly insurmountable situation. Nigeria has entered a new era in local government administration. It is expected that this autonomy will bring a new order for accelerated growth and development. In sequence, hopefully, this will enhance national drive for a renewed hope for national prosperity.

GOD IS HERE.