₦airaland Forum

Cmanforall:
Okay. Please enlighten me more.
Does it mean the governors have to sign or approve it?
Or the power and implementation rests on each State House of assembly?

I think 24 State House of assemblies out of the 36 have to approve the bills to make the constitutional amendment at the Federal level. I might be wrong though so I think a lawyer would be in the best position to explain it better.

buckeyemedia:
INEC has announced election time table already, they will pass it on time, including the states, the President will assent, so they can all face politics that they love soo much.

APC has a good campaign format, we kept our promise, we have started the restructuring of Nigeria.

Hmmm! You bringing another perspective to this issue. You may not be far from truth

Thank God,let INEC conduct all the election, starting from president to councilor of the local government.if buhari want to put this country in right direction.

LeoDeKing:
There's nothing like local govt autonomy in Nigeria.

State govs are emperors.

They wield a lot of powers and arrogate even more powers to themselves.

To start with, LGA Chairmen are handpicked by state govs. Las las, they end up employees of the govs. Forget paper, it can't work.

It was not like that before. Everything went awry immediately after we returned to democracy.

Before 1999, local government allocations were not going to state coffers but directly to the local authorities.

States were circumventing the laws and were able to pocket the local government, after 1999 election.

We grew up and met responsible local governments then than the ones we have today.

For instance:

Local governments tarred solid roads then. I could still remember one prominent local road contractor called S.B. Bakare in old Oyo State. The road the contractor tarred then are still intact, rock-solid or durable, till today in some towns and villages.

Local governments had their own primary schools, usually called L.A Primary School ….

Sewage would have been picked round town, free of charge in the morning as early as 7am EVERYDAY, FREE OF CHARGE.

Streets would have been swept early in the morning.

All street lights were working and we could play soccer till 10pm on the street.

We were going to local health care center and dispensary for treatment of our wounds and for drugs. We were getting injections and vaccines free of charge. Then, if you don’t want to ‘dance’ without ‘seeing’ drum, don’t go to PHC with your fresh wound because of iodine solutions, procaine penicillin, and jélú (dye). . Tetanus injections were free. Nothing like typhoid fever then because we were drinking clean portable water done by the state though courtesy of IBB, handled by Costain West Africa Ltd. The project started and covered the whole Oyo State then but I don’t know if other states though.

Pregnant women were being delivered of their babes FREE OF CHARGE, courtesy of local governments too, including ante natal.

There were disciplined local health inspectors who would even go up to the points of entering individual ROOMS to inspect how clean you were. We used to call them wo’lé w’óle.

Local governments were building superb local markets and lock up stalls and were being distributed free of charge then.

Women were not paying taxes then, as far as I could remember o.

There were registration and regulation of businesses then. I could remember, you needed a license called ON and OFF license before you can open a beer palour ( the one you call bar, or joints or club these days) and the license would be printed, professionally, on specially treated wood and pasted on your wall outside the bar. Come rain, come sun, na so the license wood go die.

And so on and so forth.

In some cases, the local governments would only as for ìwé orí ( tax certificate, sort of) from our fathers.

We had no worries. Not even 1% worries.
Truly, There Was A Country (Chinua Achebe).

Adabestseason:
A very good development not only financial autonomy election autonomy should be included for a balance not state electoral commission but inec, because in my local government one man is the kingmaker since 2010 determines who gets what from the council allocations built houses in Abuja,sent his wards abroad from council funds.

It is our faulty electoral law that cafed-in and allowed state electoral commissions, which governors are using to control the state and local government elections.
The amended Act should revoke state electoral commissions and put it back under the federal government. It will curb states’ electoral malpractices, to some extent.

FreeStuffsNG:
So how will granting them full autonomy address this problem? I do not have anything against them being autonomous but if it means that the citizens won't get value,to what extent then will the autonomy benefit the citizens?
I think this autonomy must be tied with some minimum obligations and efcc should have an operational office in all the 774 LGAs to provide regular updates on their utilization of the funds.

Did you even know what it means at all.
No matter what it will "help" to some extent. Cus if the way state handles LGT continue it will get worst.

FreeStuffsNG:
So how will granting them full autonomy address this problem? I do not have anything against them being autonomous but if it means that the citizens won't get value,to what extent then will the autonomy benefit the citizens?
I think this autonomy must be tied with some minimum obligations and efcc should have an operational office in all the 774 LGAs to provide regular updates on their utilization of the funds.

The ideal thing is for state government to constitute it's anti corrupt agency that would oversee the affairs of local government administrators rather than cornering their allocation.

Does state bind by any obligation to utilise the LG money they steal to develop the local government?

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helinues:
Good

Finally

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buckeyemedia:
Don’t mind that Goodmarlian, they see the transition occurring in front of them, yet they still choose to play Stevie Wonder?

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buckeyemedia:
Most urchin politicians vying for Governor, will be more interested in their Local Governments now, Which is how it should have been all along.

This autonomous law removes a lot of powers from the state capital, Local Government Chairman & Councillor, na big position now.

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buckeyemedia:
Most urchin politicians vying for Governor, will be more interested in their Local Governments now, Which is how it should have been all along.

This autonomous law removes a lot of powers from the state capital, Local Government Chairman & Councillor, na big position now.

Yea thats how it should be, governance and the demand for good development should be driven from the local communities and not abuja. Thats how things can work, instead of waiting for one minister of education or agriculture or water thats no where to be found, the local councillor should be put to work with more resources at his disposal.

Goodmarlian:
Na restructuring we want or divide.

What else is restructuring,you young dolt

blackpanda:
The Governors will end up rejecting it. Especially as elections are close

It's LAW!!!!..

It can't be rejected...

tiegahpor:
It's LAW!!!!..

It can't be rejected...

Go and read your constitution. You still need 2/3 of state houses of assembly. it doesnt end in National Assembly

blackpanda:
Go and read your constitution. You still need 2/3 of state houses of assembly. it doesnt end in National Assembly

The challenge has been scaled..

State Assemblies MUST align!

tiegahpor:
What else is restructuring,you young dolt

^^^

Great thread.

Useful suggestions - too many to count. Very impressive submissions.

Unfortunately, it seems the cynics (who said the bills would not scale the state house of assemblies) actually know their country quite well - unlike the starry eyed idealists who are now getting a rude awakening in January 2023. One thing is clear: we need to build our institutions. Our institutions are far too weak.

But at least the enemy is known now. If your state lawmakers voted against LG autonomy...then what are you waiting for? Show them and their party hell next month.

Spread the word.