NULGE decries governors’ interference in council affairs

National President, Nigerian Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE), Mr Ibrahim Khaleel, has expressed concern over the interference of governors in the affairs of local governments.
Khaleel said this in Abuja on Sunday that the situation affected the smooth running of the councils.
He said that the major challenge facing the local government in Nigeria was the continued encroachment of the system by the various state governments which had led to severe elimination of local government autonomy.
“The loss of local government autonomy in Nigeria can be seen in the non-compliance of state governments with the revenue allocation formula,’’ Khaleel said.
He said that the major reason NULGE had been campaigning for local government autonomy was to enable the local government system to develop the capacity to discharge its responsibilities. “No fewer than 160 million Nigerians reside in local government councils. “ The local government autonomy will ensure democratic decentralisation of power in the hands of citizenry at the grassroots level of governance. “ It will spur development in Nigeria’s rural, semi-rural and urban centres,’’ he said.
Khaleel said that local government autonomy would tackle the issues of minority groups and help tackle political representation at the local government level.
The NULGE president said that the youth had always complained of exclusion from governance and blamed the situation on a dysfunction local government system. “ Local government remains the training ground for leadership for youths to prepare them for service at the state and national levels,” he said.
Khaleel said local government autonomy would quicken the payment of salaries and emoluments of workers and make working environments functional.
He called for the abolition of contradictory provisions in the 1999 constitution to make local governments more vibrant through constitutional reforms.