Emmanuel Ukumba in Lafia
The senator representing Nasarawa south senatorial district in the National Assembly, Suleiman Adokwe, has said state governors are frustrating the federal lawmakers’ efforts at granting autonomy to Local Government system in the country.
The senator stated this in Lafia when explaining to journalists why the state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) will boycott the Nasarawa State Local Government elections scheduled for May 26, 2018.
Adokwe said: “We tried at the national level to amend the constitution in such a manner that the local government will be definitely autonomous, and that elections into the Local Government should be conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) which has a reasonable level of credibility.â€
“But the state governors have made sure that those amendment were frustrated by making sure that their respective state assemblies do not concur with us because they know what they are benefiting from the lack of autonomy of the Local Government; and that is the best government for the ordinary person at the grassroots level.”
“They have completely eroded the good intention of the constitutional framers that will give some form of government to that local level.â€
Adokwe therefore suspected that because the National Assembly, including the presidency, feels that any state that did not conduct election may not access the fund for Local Government; hence every state government was rushing to rubber-stamp whatever they called election so that they can access those funds and continue to spend it as they always do.
