LG Autonomy: Govs Angry With Presidency

Contrary to the news making the rounds that the governors are happy with the Supreme Court ruling on Local Government autonomy, Sunday Telegraph can report that most of them are angry with the verdict which has freed the third tier of government from the chokehold of the governors.

In reaction to the ruling, the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) and Kwara State Governor, AbdulRazaq AbdulRahman, declared that the state governors were comfortable with the Supreme Court judgment, which granted financial autonomy to local governments.

He said that the ruling had relieved the governors of a burden, noting that they were happy with devolving powers to the third tier of government.

Asked particularly for his reaction to the apex court’s judgement, the Kwara Governor said: “We welcome the ruling of the Supreme Court, compliance is given and our Attorney Generals have applied for the enrollment order, which we’ll study carefully.”

He said: “But by and large, governors are happy with the devolution of power concerning local government autonomy. It relieves the burden on governors.

“Our people don’t know how much states expend in bailing out local governments, and that’s the issue there.” But impeccable sources, who spoke with Sunday Telegraph on Thursday night, said that the ruling hit the governors at the solar plexus.

“They did not know what hit them,” a source volunteered. The source said: “Most of the governors are very, very angry. They believed that the president sold them a dummy and the essence of federalism was gone, that rather than helping the country, it had brought about a situation where the Federal Government would become more powerful.

And they believe that it is more political and that the president and his thinkers believed that they want to curry the favour of the grassroots, so that his election in 2027 will garner support at that level.” The Source continued: “They are very angry and it is going to cause a lot of problems in the polity.

As things stand, the interpretation is that we have three tiers of government. What is about to happen is to make the Federal Government more powerful and it has divested the powers of the state, to even govern their polity. That is what the governors are saying. “They have been meeting but the Governors Forum will meet from all indications to weigh their options.”

Another Source said: “I understand that they are livid. For instance, in some states of the federation, there have not been any elections at the local government level.

In Anambra State, if you check the records, the last time any Local Government elections were held was 12 years ago. You can count several states with elected local government chairmen.

What they have is local government caretaker committees. “Now, the governors are in a tight situation. They are in a fix on what and how to generate revenue. It means less money for them to throw around and their influence would wane.”

Part of the judgment according to the governors is that local governments without elective chairmen would not even get money from the federation account. That is one part of it. “The governors are meeting and are angry.

They are meeting across political lines to know how to go about it. “A number of them say it is more political; that the president and his handlers are using it to garner support for 2027.

Someone was even quoted to have said ‘that the president is biting the fingers that fed him despite all they did to make him win the APC presidential ticket and eventually elected the president of Nigeria.

This is the way he wants to repay us’. “The ruling also makes it that funds would not be given to any local government not democratically elected. “This is where the real problem is, especially those of them with LCDAs (Local Council Development Areas), which are not listed in the constitution.

“How do you split the money you have no control over, especially if you do not belong to the same political party with the chairman of the local government? Wait until elections are conducted into local councils, which would be conducted by the INEC.

That is where there will be real issue because; where a local government chairman wins an election may not be the strong hold of the governor.” Whichever they would go, this would be known when the governors meet on Wednesday under the auspices of the NGF to fashion a way out.