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Professor Chukwuma Soludo, the Governor of Anambra State, has expressed concerns regarding the proposal to grant complete autonomy to Nigeria’s 774 local government areas, cautioning that it could result in “massive disorder.” He contends that such a decision would fail to foster sustainable development within the regions.
This declaration was issued on Tuesday at the Governor’s Lodge in Amawbia, Awka, right after he signed into law the Anambra State Local Government Administration Law.
The law, titled “Anambra Local Government Administration Law 2024,” was passed by the State House of Assembly last Thursday.
Soludo pointed out that Section 7 of the constitution authorizes state governments to pass laws for the administration of local government areas, stressing the significance of oversight from the state level.
He said, “The absolute autonomy to the 774 local government areas in the country is an impossibility. In fact, it is a recipe for humongous chaos. The attendant challenges before the issue of local government autonomy are such that would certainly deepen the fate of the system and spell doom for the expected beneficiaries of the process if not well planned.”
He articulated that the new law seeks to foster consistency, transparency, and collaboration between the different tiers of government.
He stated, “The new laws by Anambra House of Assembly are therefore consequential to give operational life to the Supreme Court judgment and not to undermine it. If the State House of Assembly abdicates this constitutional duty, the Local Government will then have no law on the use and management of its finance.”
Read also: Anambra Traders Defy Soludo’s Order, Continue Sit-At-Home
He argued that collaboration between state and local governments is crucial, warning that many local governments could face financial crises without proper coordination, potentially requiring state bailouts.
Soludo added, “The Federal Government has exclusive rights over resources, but the state has exclusive rights over the land. At the state level, each state is spending a fortune on its revenue.
“No tier of government can function without the collaboration of others. The three tiers have the objective of the people. The FG is not completely autonomous of the state. It’s a collaborative arrangement to achieve the same objective.”
The governor also addressed allegations that state governors force local government chairmen to transfer funds to the state, dismissing them as unfounded.
“Governors are often accused of seeking to ‘control’ LG funds with insinuations that LG funds are mismanaged. Of course, in a society where public office is seen as ‘dining table’ and public trust is low, people judge others by their own standards,” he said.