Governor Mai Mala Buni of Yobe State has said that the issue of local government autonomy in Nigeria will eventually be “seamlessly and democratically” resolved to free the third tier of government from the stranglehold of state governments.
Buni who was also a former National Caretaker Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) stated over the weekend after casting his vote at his ward in Buni Gari on Saturday in the state’s local government election that he was in support of local government autonomy.
He said:
“When I came on board in 2019, my concept was to give autonomy to the local government. Unfortunately, six out of the 17 local governments in Yobe State can’t even pay their salaries
“So, the wisdom behind this joint account, complementing the efforts of the local governments with the state working together in executing some projects, is an idea born out of these shortfalls,” he said.
“Our democracy is growing, and this issue will be addressed seamlessly and democratically without hitches.”
The Federal Government has approached the Supreme Court for interpretation of the ruling of a Federal High Court which has ordered immediate autonomy for the local governments as a third tier of the of government.
Opinions are, however, divided as various state governments are opposed to the move to extricate the local governments from the state governors.
Governors have been accused of using local government allocations as slush funds which they allegedly loot through a “joint account” system that makes it very difficult for local governments to have control of their allocations.