Senator Kawu Sumaila has issued a stern warning to state governors across Nigeria, urging them to cease frustrating efforts aimed at establishing full autonomy for local governments in the country.
The senator, who represents Kano South Senatorial District, made these remarks during the North-West Zonal Public Hearing organized by the Senate Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution held in Kano State.
Sumaila accused state governments of deliberately obstructing progress on local government independence, stating: "State governors are bent on keeping the councils under their control by withholding their allocations and reducing them to beggars. This must stop."
The lawmaker expressed profound frustration over the prolonged struggle to liberate the third tier of government from what he described as undue interference by state authorities. He commended President Bola Tinubu for supporting his bill on local government autonomy and for taking the matter to the Supreme Court to secure a definitive judgment favoring the 774 local government areas in Nigeria.
"I must commend President Bola Tinubu for not only accepting the bill I sponsored on local government autonomy, but also for taking the matter to the Supreme Court to secure a definitive judgment in favour of the 774 local government areas," Sumaila said.
The senator acknowledged the significant contributions of civil society groups and the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) in the campaign for local government freedom, emphasizing that their tireless efforts must not be in vain.
"We cannot allow the blockage of local government autonomy by state actors. We must fight using all available legal and constitutional means to make it happen," he insisted.
Senator Sumaila was part of a delegation that included union leaders from local governments who submitted a draft bill to the Senate Constitution Review Committee. He praised the committee chaired by Deputy Senate President, Barau Jibrin, for bringing the public hearing to Kano, describing it as a necessary step to bringing the constitutional debate closer to the people.
The issue of local government autonomy has remained contentious in Nigeria's governance structure, with many arguing that state control over local government funds has hampered grassroots development and effective service delivery at the community level.
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