1 month ago
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As the Federal Government gears up to implement the financial autonomy of the local government, advocacy group, Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, has advised that anti-graft agencies should be instructed to monitor spending my the local government managers in order to forestall corruption and diversion of funds.
SERAP, in a letter on Sunday by its Deputy Director, Kolawole Oludare, called on President Bola Tinubu to deploy the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission as well as the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission to monitor the local governments.
It also called on the President to instruct the Minister of Finance, Mr. Olawale Edun, to immediately withhold federal allocations to states that have either neglected or refused to conduct free and fair elections at the local level.
The organisation’s letter highlighted a Supreme Court judgment delivered on July 11, 2024, which mandates that funds from the Federation Account should be paid only to democratically elected local government councils and no other entities.
SERAP stressed that this judgment is consistent with the provisions of the 1999 Nigerian Constitution (as amended), which guarantees that local government councils must be governed by democratically elected officials, not appointed caretaker committees.
“Your government has the obligation to enforce the Nigerian Constitution and to prevent public wrong, including by state governors,” SERAP stated, emphasising that the rule of law must not be subverted by political interests.
The letter also pointed out that the manipulation of local government elections by state governors had reduced the exercise to mere coronations of favoured candidates, thereby undermining democratic principles and good governance at the local level.
In response to what SERAP termed as “mismanagement and corruption” by some state governors in handling federal allocations meant for local governments, the organisation urged President Tinubu to involve the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to monitor the use of these funds.
According to SERAP, trillions of naira in federal allocations meant for local government councils have been squandered over the years, resulting in extreme poverty and a lack of basic public services for millions of Nigerians.
The letter also referenced the recent remarks by the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, who criticised the current state of local government elections in most states.
Yakubu described these elections as nothing more than “the coronation of candidates of the ruling parties,” calling for an end to this practice and for genuine elections to be held.
SERAP’s demands include a call for the immediate implementation of the Supreme Court’s ruling, which explicitly prohibits state governors from dissolving democratically elected local government councils or replacing them with caretaker committees.
“State governors have no power to keep, control, manage, or disburse in any manner allocations from the Federation Account to local government councils,” SERAP noted, quoting section 162(3)(5) of the Nigerian Constitution.
