Nigeria exists as a federation with three tiers of Government which are the Federal, State and Local.
The Local government as a concept of government existed long before the arrival of the colonialists. This is evident in the British’s indirect rule system, which was built upon existing local administrations in Nigeria.
Currently, there are 768 Local Government Areas in the 36 states of the federation and six area councils in the Federal Capital Territory as stipulated in Section 3 (6) as well as Parts I and II of the First Schedule of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (CFRN) as altered.
However, the current system has had its up and downs, especially as it relates with financial autonomy and the usurping of functions of the Local Government as stated in the Fourth Schedule of the 1999 CFRN as altered.
These matters have continuously generated controversy, with some arguing that the Local Governments are not federating units as defined in Section 2 (2) of the 1999 CFRN as altered. But, others have insisted they are independent and were only emasculated by State Governors who used the State Assemblies to make them appendages of the States.
The above led to the creation of the controversial Joint Allocation Accounts Committee (JAAC) accounts, while reports of State Assemblies and Governors sacking elected Chairmen and Chairpersons are well documented in the media.
483 out of the 768 Local Government Areas in 21 States including Cross River, do not have elected Chairmen, Vice and Councillors who are the local lawmakers.
But, with the recent Judgment of the Supreme Court declaring the JAAC as unconstitutional and ordering the Federal Government to withhold federal allocations to Local Governments, questions such as; what exactly does this entail? have been asked.
Also, what led to this in the first place?
What happens to staff of the Local Government Administrations absorbed by State laws?
What about the laws passed by Assemblies mandating deductions from allocations to Local Government Areas?
Will this guarantee continuous succession to the Local Government Councils as stated in Section 7 of the 1999 CFRN as altered?
What is in place to ensure that the narrative of malfeasance that led to the creation of JAAC doesn’t emerge anymore?
These and more formed the basis of Episode 388 of ‘The Dialogue With Agba Jalingo’ with the topic; “The Recent Supreme Court Judgment On LG Allocations: Issues And Matters Arising.”
A former Chairman of the Special Investigation Panel for the Recovery of Public Property, Okoi Obono-Obla Esq and former General Manager of the Cross River State Newspaper Corporation, Dominic Kidzu were guests on the live program held on Sunday, July 14th 2024 on Hit 95.9FM Calabar.
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