Some Govs Are Thieves – House of Reps
Posted on 25th Jan 2013
…Why they don’t Want LG Authonony
….Why they set up LG caretaker committees
Author: By Umukpedi Oghenetejiri
The House of Representatives on Monday accused some state governors of stealing local government funds for their selfish interest, a reason some of them opposed, moves to grant financial autonomy to the third tier of government.
The House took particular exception to recent comments by Kano State Governor, Mr. Rabiu Kwankwaso, on the issue, which was very similar to a statement earlier credited to the Chairman, Governors’ Forum, Governor Rotimi Amaechi on the issue.
The governor had opposed the ongoing constitution amendment by the National Assembly, autonomy for local governments and state legislatures as well as the constituency projects of members of the National Assembly.
The governor accused the National Assembly of embarking on the exercise because of the money, members would make from it.
He said, “We don’t need constitution amendment in this time; what we need is constitution enforcement. So, as far as we are concerned, constitution amendment is just a diversion, wastage of time and money, and the National Assembly should be blamed for this because there is a lot of benefit for them in the exercise.”
But, on Monday 21st January, 2013, the Chairman, House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Mr. Zakari Mohammed, said Gov. Kwankwaso and other governors were “misleading” Nigerians and acting as demi-gods in their opposition to the constitution amendment.
Mohammed said, “On the issue of local government autonomy, as far as Nigerians are concerned, it is long overdue. “Arising from our peoples public sessions as true representatives of the people, our constituents do not agree with the current status where local government funds are being pilfered by governors, including Kwankwaso, at the expense of the people and chairmen, who are seen as mere boys for the job.
“I challenge the Kano State governor to tell the people of his state and Nigerians how these funds are managed in Kano, since he came to office.
“We will certainly not accept a situation where governors have turned themselves to demi-gods in the name of joint account.
“It is saddening to note that LG elections have not been held in some states since 1999, wondering what sort of government states are running.”
Mohammed explained that the aim of the National Assembly was to pursue the principles of true federalism “where the federal, state and local governments will function as federating units for the benefits of the Nigerian people.”
The House also accused state governors of encouraging graft by opposing the independence of state legislatures.
He said, “A lot of State Assemblies are an extension of the state executive council, where speakers and the House leadership permanently go cap in hand to the governors for their needs.”
On the constituency projects built into each annual budget for lawmakers, Mohammed said the role of legislators in the projects was limited to selecting the sites, but denied that they were involved in actual execution.
Meanwhile, the Senate Committee Chairman on FCT, Sen. Smart Adeyemi, has said he would spearhead a nationwide protest to resist moves by State Governors to oppose local governments’ autonomy.
He said it was unconstitutional for the governors not to allow the local government areas have autonomy in the management of their finances. Adeyemi said this while speaking with newsmen in Abuja.
The Senator also described the Nigeria Governor\'s Forum (NGF) as alien to the nation\'s Constitution.
Adeyemi said it would amount to a breach of the Constitution for state governors not to allow financial autonomy for the local government, adding that most of them were oblivious of the sufferings of the people at the grass roots.
Responding to the Chairman, NGF, Governor Rotimi Amaechi’s assertion on the autonomy of LG in the country, Senator Adeyemi said there was no provision for a Governors’ Forum in the US Constitution, which was an advanced democracy.
He said the Nigerian situation was quite different from what obtained in the US or any other part of the world, noting that the Nigerian masses could only feel the impact of government through the local government.
While commending the efforts of Governor Amaechi for putting in place various developmental programmes in Rivers States, he challenged the governor to point at some of his colleagues who were doing same thing in any of the states in the country.
\"In 1976, when we had the local government reform, it was to enable us to have a situation whereby quite a number of the sub-ethnic groups could have an identity in the first instance and equally, so that they can manage their own affairs.
\"Now if you are saying you don\'t want the local government to be autonomous, then why do we go ahead to vote for the executive and other personnel for the running of the local government?
\"I think it is unconstitutional for the governors not to allow the local areas to be on their own in terms of the management of their finances. One, it is a breach of the Constitution of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria. When the governors were taking their oaths of office, with that sacred document, they said that they will obey and respect the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“Governor Amaechi is a very intelligent, articulate and courageous man. But good as all these qualities are, we are not equally short of those qualities in the National Assembly. I will equally say that from the interview he granted, I could now understand and appreciate where
he is coming from.
“But the unfortunate thing is that Rivers State is not Nigeria. What Governor Amaechi is doing in Rivers State, I wish other governors are doing that. If other governors are even adding more to the allocations of their local government areas, then we have no business discussing
the autonomy in the first instance.
“But as the chairman of the Governors’ Forum, I hope he is taking time to find out what is happening in the other states of the federation. When I speak, I don\'t speak as a Senator or speaking on behalf of Kogi people. I speak as a Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. In
essence, my constituency is Nigeria, first and foremost.
“And when we talk of contemporary issues, we talk about them because we want good governance; we want protection of human rights; we want improved standard of living.
“Now, one of the hallmarks of democracy is that you talk, I talk; democracy is not about arrogance. It is about discussing and you come up with superior arguments and then I will concede to you.
\"I saw a lot of what he was doing and I asked myself a question- I hope this can be done in the other states of the federation. I don\'t know if people are scared the same way I am scared about the high level of poverty in Nigeria; I don\'t know whether you people are concerned about the fact that there are millions of Nigerians roaming about the streets without job.
\"I don\'t know whether you are concerned about the fact that when you go round the local government areas today and there are armies of educated people, who are not employed, roaming the streets; capable of causing revolution.
\"When we raise contemporary issues like this, we raise them because we want the best for our nation. We stir up national discourse so that the intelligentsia can come together and proffer solutions.
“What I am saying is, the chairman of the Governors’ Forum should ask his colleagues if they are doing what he is doing. If they are not doing that, then there is a reason for us to be concerned.
\"In the course of his interview, I read where he said the Governors’ Forum will not allow the three tiers to be entrenched in the constitution. But let me say it to their Excellencies that it pays you people to allow the three tiers of government to survive or else you will not sleep with your two eyes closed or else your old age would be disturbed.
\"These are the truths. Again, in the course of the interview, the governor said that there is nowhere in the world where you have a federal system of government that you have local government being autonomous.
\"I will say it to His Excellency that the federal system of government of our nation is slightly different from what we have in other nations of the world. Why? Because of our diversity as a people. Yes, we are One Nigeria but nobody will want his tribe being oppressed or
relegated\", Adeyemi said.
He said the local government was the only tier of government that had direct bearing on the lives of people at the grassroots.
Adeyemi said: ``we will do everything possible to resist any attempt to stop the third tier of government from being entrenched in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
``We the people will rise against that move. I will join other stake holders including labour, NULGE to go on a nationwide demonstration. ``I speak this not only as a Senator. I speak this as a journalist and as a former labour leader. So let nobody think about a two tier system
of government.
``If you make any attempt to expunge or to reduce the power of the local government, then it is to prepare for anarchy in a few years to come,’’ he said.
Meanwhile, the Ad-Hoc Committee Constitution Review said on Monday that the results of the Peoples Public Sessions organised by the House in November last year, would be presented to the public on January 31.
Recently, the Orderly Society Trust, decided to take upon itself and investigate the state of local governments in Nigeria. It was a study that saw a team of researchers traverse the length and breadth of Nigeria. At the end of the exercise, Yemi Osinbajo, a professor of law and former Lagos State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, in a write up which served as the introductory part of the book containing the findings of the research, wrote: “As the tier of
government that is closest to the people, the local government has the unique capacity to address the most direct needs of its community. However, the system of local governance in Nigeria has to a large extent, been ineffective. In addition to the failure of local governments to perform their constitutional functions well, the system of local government administration has been plagued by a lack of transparency and accountability.”
This damning verdict derived from the findings of the study, which are captured in the book: Making Local Governance Work for the Poor, and published in June, 2010. The findings showed an embarrassing disconnect between majority of the people and the local government councils, and “in no single local government did the majority of the respondents consider their local government ‘good’ in their total provision of public services to the poor.” That was not all. “A very high proportion of the two genders (72.8 percent male and 73.3 percent female) perceived the local government officials as corrupt.” One of the respondents was more direct in her accusation. She described local government administrators as corrupt officials who “are now being pursued by ICPC and EFCC.” That accusation still holds true today. The officials of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC and Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, have been busy in recent months pursuing local government chairmen, both past and serving, across the states on suspicions or allegations bordering on looting, stealing or diversion of local government funds.
The House took particular exception to recent comments by Kano State Governor, Mr. Rabiu Kwankwaso, on the issue, which was very similar to a statement earlier credited to the Chairman, Governors’ Forum, Governor Rotimi Amaechi on the issue.
The governor had opposed the ongoing constitution amendment by the National Assembly, autonomy for local governments and state legislatures as well as the constituency projects of members of the National Assembly.
The governor accused the National Assembly of embarking on the exercise because of the money, members would make from it.
He said, “We don’t need constitution amendment in this time; what we need is constitution enforcement. So, as far as we are concerned, constitution amendment is just a diversion, wastage of time and money, and the National Assembly should be blamed for this because there is a lot of benefit for them in the exercise.”
But, on Monday 21st January, 2013, the Chairman, House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Mr. Zakari Mohammed, said Gov. Kwankwaso and other governors were “misleading” Nigerians and acting as demi-gods in their opposition to the constitution amendment.
Mohammed said, “On the issue of local government autonomy, as far as Nigerians are concerned, it is long overdue. “Arising from our peoples public sessions as true representatives of the people, our constituents do not agree with the current status where local government funds are being pilfered by governors, including Kwankwaso, at the expense of the people and chairmen, who are seen as mere boys for the job.
“I challenge the Kano State governor to tell the people of his state and Nigerians how these funds are managed in Kano, since he came to office.
“We will certainly not accept a situation where governors have turned themselves to demi-gods in the name of joint account.
“It is saddening to note that LG elections have not been held in some states since 1999, wondering what sort of government states are running.”
Mohammed explained that the aim of the National Assembly was to pursue the principles of true federalism “where the federal, state and local governments will function as federating units for the benefits of the Nigerian people.”
The House also accused state governors of encouraging graft by opposing the independence of state legislatures.
He said, “A lot of State Assemblies are an extension of the state executive council, where speakers and the House leadership permanently go cap in hand to the governors for their needs.”
On the constituency projects built into each annual budget for lawmakers, Mohammed said the role of legislators in the projects was limited to selecting the sites, but denied that they were involved in actual execution.
Meanwhile, the Senate Committee Chairman on FCT, Sen. Smart Adeyemi, has said he would spearhead a nationwide protest to resist moves by State Governors to oppose local governments’ autonomy.
He said it was unconstitutional for the governors not to allow the local government areas have autonomy in the management of their finances. Adeyemi said this while speaking with newsmen in Abuja.
The Senator also described the Nigeria Governor\'s Forum (NGF) as alien to the nation\'s Constitution.
Adeyemi said it would amount to a breach of the Constitution for state governors not to allow financial autonomy for the local government, adding that most of them were oblivious of the sufferings of the people at the grass roots.
Responding to the Chairman, NGF, Governor Rotimi Amaechi’s assertion on the autonomy of LG in the country, Senator Adeyemi said there was no provision for a Governors’ Forum in the US Constitution, which was an advanced democracy.
He said the Nigerian situation was quite different from what obtained in the US or any other part of the world, noting that the Nigerian masses could only feel the impact of government through the local government.
While commending the efforts of Governor Amaechi for putting in place various developmental programmes in Rivers States, he challenged the governor to point at some of his colleagues who were doing same thing in any of the states in the country.
\"In 1976, when we had the local government reform, it was to enable us to have a situation whereby quite a number of the sub-ethnic groups could have an identity in the first instance and equally, so that they can manage their own affairs.
\"Now if you are saying you don\'t want the local government to be autonomous, then why do we go ahead to vote for the executive and other personnel for the running of the local government?
\"I think it is unconstitutional for the governors not to allow the local areas to be on their own in terms of the management of their finances. One, it is a breach of the Constitution of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria. When the governors were taking their oaths of office, with that sacred document, they said that they will obey and respect the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“Governor Amaechi is a very intelligent, articulate and courageous man. But good as all these qualities are, we are not equally short of those qualities in the National Assembly. I will equally say that from the interview he granted, I could now understand and appreciate where
he is coming from.
“But the unfortunate thing is that Rivers State is not Nigeria. What Governor Amaechi is doing in Rivers State, I wish other governors are doing that. If other governors are even adding more to the allocations of their local government areas, then we have no business discussing
the autonomy in the first instance.
“But as the chairman of the Governors’ Forum, I hope he is taking time to find out what is happening in the other states of the federation. When I speak, I don\'t speak as a Senator or speaking on behalf of Kogi people. I speak as a Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. In
essence, my constituency is Nigeria, first and foremost.
“And when we talk of contemporary issues, we talk about them because we want good governance; we want protection of human rights; we want improved standard of living.
“Now, one of the hallmarks of democracy is that you talk, I talk; democracy is not about arrogance. It is about discussing and you come up with superior arguments and then I will concede to you.
\"I saw a lot of what he was doing and I asked myself a question- I hope this can be done in the other states of the federation. I don\'t know if people are scared the same way I am scared about the high level of poverty in Nigeria; I don\'t know whether you people are concerned about the fact that there are millions of Nigerians roaming about the streets without job.
\"I don\'t know whether you are concerned about the fact that when you go round the local government areas today and there are armies of educated people, who are not employed, roaming the streets; capable of causing revolution.
\"When we raise contemporary issues like this, we raise them because we want the best for our nation. We stir up national discourse so that the intelligentsia can come together and proffer solutions.
“What I am saying is, the chairman of the Governors’ Forum should ask his colleagues if they are doing what he is doing. If they are not doing that, then there is a reason for us to be concerned.
\"In the course of his interview, I read where he said the Governors’ Forum will not allow the three tiers to be entrenched in the constitution. But let me say it to their Excellencies that it pays you people to allow the three tiers of government to survive or else you will not sleep with your two eyes closed or else your old age would be disturbed.
\"These are the truths. Again, in the course of the interview, the governor said that there is nowhere in the world where you have a federal system of government that you have local government being autonomous.
\"I will say it to His Excellency that the federal system of government of our nation is slightly different from what we have in other nations of the world. Why? Because of our diversity as a people. Yes, we are One Nigeria but nobody will want his tribe being oppressed or
relegated\", Adeyemi said.
He said the local government was the only tier of government that had direct bearing on the lives of people at the grassroots.
Adeyemi said: ``we will do everything possible to resist any attempt to stop the third tier of government from being entrenched in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
``We the people will rise against that move. I will join other stake holders including labour, NULGE to go on a nationwide demonstration. ``I speak this not only as a Senator. I speak this as a journalist and as a former labour leader. So let nobody think about a two tier system
of government.
``If you make any attempt to expunge or to reduce the power of the local government, then it is to prepare for anarchy in a few years to come,’’ he said.
Meanwhile, the Ad-Hoc Committee Constitution Review said on Monday that the results of the Peoples Public Sessions organised by the House in November last year, would be presented to the public on January 31.
Recently, the Orderly Society Trust, decided to take upon itself and investigate the state of local governments in Nigeria. It was a study that saw a team of researchers traverse the length and breadth of Nigeria. At the end of the exercise, Yemi Osinbajo, a professor of law and former Lagos State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, in a write up which served as the introductory part of the book containing the findings of the research, wrote: “As the tier of
government that is closest to the people, the local government has the unique capacity to address the most direct needs of its community. However, the system of local governance in Nigeria has to a large extent, been ineffective. In addition to the failure of local governments to perform their constitutional functions well, the system of local government administration has been plagued by a lack of transparency and accountability.”
This damning verdict derived from the findings of the study, which are captured in the book: Making Local Governance Work for the Poor, and published in June, 2010. The findings showed an embarrassing disconnect between majority of the people and the local government councils, and “in no single local government did the majority of the respondents consider their local government ‘good’ in their total provision of public services to the poor.” That was not all. “A very high proportion of the two genders (72.8 percent male and 73.3 percent female) perceived the local government officials as corrupt.” One of the respondents was more direct in her accusation. She described local government administrators as corrupt officials who “are now being pursued by ICPC and EFCC.” That accusation still holds true today. The officials of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC and Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, have been busy in recent months pursuing local government chairmen, both past and serving, across the states on suspicions or allegations bordering on looting, stealing or diversion of local government funds.
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