Stop Creating Parallel LG Structures

Stop Creating Parallel LG Structures



Section 7 (1) of the 1999 constitution of federal republic of Nigeria stipulates that the Government of every state shall ensure the existences of democratically elected Local Government councils.

With the trend of things now, it is clear to every fair minded Nigerian that our state Governors are working at cross purposes to this provision.

In fact, it is only few of the 36 states consider sticking to the constitutional provisions that created the Local Government System of Administration.



How can one explain the adoption of parallel local Government structures by some State Governors in the name of liaison officers.



In Benue and Ogun States , they called them Governors Liaison officers, GLO.



In Akwa Ibom State , they were named as special Assistants to local Govt. chairman, Executive Assistants in Osun, taskforce in Sokoto, co-ordinators of Development Area in Ebonyi, Chairman, Community Development Committee in Delta and in Enugu State they became Administrators of Development Area, ADA’s.



Whatever brand or name you call them, the bottonline is that everything boils down to duplication of efforts and wastages of resources.



In a situation where over 750 Executive Assistants were appointed with a basic salary of N50, 000 each, one could only but imagine how far the tax payer’s money has being stretched.


The question now is, having outnumbered the elected LG official in Osun State , what specifically are their roles?



Again, in a related report the Enugu State commissioner for Local Govt. Prof. Frank Asogwa said the role of the newly appointed Administrators is to collect revenue from their Development Areas.

They also have the responsibility to articulate projects and table same before their councils. Now, if you exclude LG council from collecting internal Revenue, I wonder what else will remain as their statutory fiscal function.

If you mandate an appointed body to facilitate projects from ward level, what then are the roles of the elected word councilors.



The conflict generated in Enugu State between these two set of LG functionaries will soon reach a crisis level, it has already stated in Udenu where the LG chairman reportedly used soldiers to assault the Administrator while he was performing his duties.



Finally, let it be on record that the masses still have confidence on the elected LG officials than the so called Governor’s appointed cronies.



Jeef Nkwocha

Local Govt. Study Network,

www.Localgovtchairmen.com

08030485016