By Cross Udo, Abuja
The Association of Local Government of Nigeria (ALGON) has decried the 23 percent allocation from the monthly federation account to local government, saying it is very paltry considering that many citizens are at the grassroots.
ALGON also said it had yet to receive allocation directly from the federal allocation and expressed optimism that direct allocation to council areas would begin this month.
However, it raised concerns that the Joint Allocation Committee (JAC) issue is still in the constitution and called for an amendment and immediate removal.
The chairman of ALGON in Plateau State and the association’s National Publicity Secretary, Hamisu Anani, disclosed this in an interview in Abuja.
Anani, who is also the local government chairman of the Wase council area of Plateau State, frowned at the governors’ arbitrary removal of democratically elected local government chairmen.
Answering questions on the issue of financial autonomy for local government areas and whether they have started receiving their monthly allocation from the federation account directly based on the Supreme Court judgement, Anani said the councils are yet to receive allocation directly from the federal purse.
On whether the association was making any efforts for the implementation of the apex court judgement on the matter, he said it was the responsibility of the Accountant General of the Federation the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, and other relevant bodies to ensure the implementation of the judgement.
According to him, “Committees are working seriously on these issues. There are ‘t’s to be crossed and ‘i’s to be dotted to ensure this is done. And the committees have finished their work. So we’re just waiting for the implementation of this right away.
“And also, it is the wish of everybody, the masses, the want of the chairmen, the wish of the governors, and also the wish of the federal government, the President, specifically to see that financial autonomy for the local government councils is implemented because everybody in government wishes to see that the dividends of democracy, touch down to the grassroots.
“The reason is that, at the state level, there are so many organizations that the local government funds. Primary healthcare is funded by the local government (the Universal Basic Education Commission). The local government funds UBEC. There are first-line charges within the states that the local government funds.”
When asked specifically whether local government areas have started receiving allocations directly, he said, “No local government has started receiving allocations directly.”
*Expects direct funds from January
Further asked how soon they expected to receive their allocation directly, he said, “We are expecting it possibly this month, as they said. The committees have done their work. They finished everything and then submitted it. So definitely, the implementation will soon start.”
*Seeks constitutional amendment on Joint Allocation Committee
On ALGON’s position regarding the removal of elected local government chairmen by state governors, he said this trend has become ugly and repeats itself every time.
He said, “We must look at it carefully because it is a constitutional issue. It needs to be investigated very thoroughly.
“And the ruling of the Supreme Court mentioned three things: local government Chairman cannot just go like that, as the governor just announced that you should go as it was before; it’s a constitutional matter. And if you do well, the councillors don’t have any point for them to impeach you.
“There are other things that need to be looked into in the constitution. JAC is still in the constitution and needs to be reviewed.”
Also, responding to the advantage of local government areas getting their allocations directly from the federal accounts, he said:
“It’s a tremendous advantage to the people down there at the grassroots because there will be actual development.
“And also, we at the local government level cry out loud over the sharing formula. The sharing formula of revenue is still another thing. If the government at the grassroots level needs development, we can’t obtain just 23 percent for 774 local government areas, as against 40-something percent for the federal government.
“So, development should come from the grassroots, and then the sharing formula should be increased. We are soliciting for it to be looked into in the interest of development at the grassroots.”
The ALGON Publicity Secretary said that six states have yet to conduct local government elections, even though he claimed that Plateau State had one of the country’s most credible and transparent local government elections.
“We have over 30 states that have conducted their elections successfully, of which, in our NEC meeting in Katsina last month, we urged the states that are yet to conduct elections to do so.
“As ALGON, we gave them specific advice on how to conduct the election as it is supposed to be, as declared by the Supreme Court judgment.
“We have less than six states yet to comply, of which I cannot get the names directly now; maybe I can let you know later the states that are yet to comply.”
