Crippling of LGs by Govs Responsible for Insecurity, Says Ex-Benue Commissioner

A former Commissioner  for Land and Survey in Benue State, Mr. John Tondus, has said that the stifling of local governments  by state governors was responsible for the deteriorating security situation in the country.

To this end, Tondu called on the National Assembly to ensure that the autonomy of the third tier of government is guaranteed in the constitution.

Tondu,  a 2019 Governorship aspirant in the  Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) stated this  yesterday  in Abuja after he received an award of recognition from the National Association of Northern Nigerian Students as an Icon of Societal Development.

He stated: “It is state governors that are responsible for the insecurity that is taking place in this country today. Because if the local and system is functional to an extent, the local government will be in a position considering the fact that they recruit local vigilantes that know every nook and corners of the LGA and be able to identify where criminals are hiding.

“But they are not empowered to do that. So, even if they are willing, they won’t be able to achieve that because the state governors are taking the resources meant for the local government.”

The PDP chieftain lamented that the local government chairmen were made  to sign despite the president’s determination to make sure that money meant for the LGAs goes to them directly.

According to him,   “The state governors make the local government chairman to sign these monies into a joint account that are used for the purposes not meant for. Go to the local government and find out exactly the wage bill. Take two to three LGAs as a case study. What exactly is the wage bill of such a local government?

“And how much is the monthly allocation for that local government? If you are able to establish how much is the monthly wage bill of the local government, then ask the chairmen the surplus of this money. How do they utilize it that for this period that you are the chairman. There is no single one capital project that you can point to. And this money is also not there. How will you explain? You will come back and tell me the governors are responsible for 85-95% of the insecurity that we are facing as a nation today,” he stated.

Tondu stressed that a local government chairman does not have access to N2 million as security votes in that LGA. 

He lamented that where a local government chairman  needs to spend N2 million on issues of security in his domain, he would have to get approval from the  governor.

“So, how will you be able to address the issues as chairman after being referred to as the Chief security officer of the local government on paper. That is the reality that you are not the chief security officer of the local government. So, lack of autonomy of the LGA contributes 75-80 per cent of insecurity we are facing in our country today,” he stated.