By John Odunayo
The President of National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE), Comrade Ambali Olatunji, has praised the governments of Ekiti, Rivers and Jigawa for adhering to the constitutional provision of local government autonomy in the state.
The NULGE president, who spoke on Channels Television programme, The Morning Brief, on Tuesday, lampooned state governments for flouting the local government autonomy law, saying, “Only three states – Ekiti, Jigawa and Rivers have complied with the law.
The NULGE President who condemned what he described as flagrant disregard for the local government autonomy by state governments, alleged that many states had continued to deny the third tier of government democratic governance through the use of caretaker committees or sole administrator as against elected officials.
He said, “Many of them have also not complied with the financial independence aspect of the autonomy, through unwholesome practices that slow down growth and development at the third tier government”.
When asked to mention names of the states disregarding the local government autonomy law and who are in the habit of crediting and withdrawing money from the local government account, the NULGE president said, “Only three states are complying ‘mutantis mutandis’ with the provisions of the constitution -Ekiti, Jigawa and Rivers.
“These are the states that stand above board in the issue of local government autonomy,” he said.
