Former Governor of Ekiti State, Ayo Fayose, has criticised the ruling of the Supreme Court, granting local governments, LGs, fiscal autonomy, News About Nigeria reports.
He expressed his concerns while speaking as a guest on Sunday’s edition of Channels Television’s Politics Today.
Recall that the Supreme Court affirmed on Thursday that local governments have the right to receive monthly allocations directly from the federation account.
Reacting to this, the former governor and Chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, stated that despite the court judgement, the state Houses of Assembly and the governors will always be a clog in the wheel of local government autonomy.
He emphasised that nobody from the grassroots can emerge as a local government chairman without the support of a governor, adding that both the court and the federal government cannot take the baby from the mother.
“I am not a lawyer. I am a politician and by God’s grace today, I am an elder statesman. While I love and do not believe that any government should take local government funds, may I say to you very clearly this evening that you cannot take the baby from the mother? There is nobody that can become council chairman without a governor. Anybody telling you otherwise is wasting his time.
“Let me quickly remind you that the House of Assembly of every state controls the activities and checkmates the activities of the local government. While I was governor, I had the privilege of receiving money from Abuja. When you receive money from the account, some people manage the account. They are not politicians or the council chairman.
“There is only one representative of the governor, which is the local government commissioner. All others are local government officials, workers, and pensioners of the council. And they appropriate the funds. But when you now come and say we are giving power to the local government, what power are you giving to them? No power,” he stated.
He further noted that most council officials don’t take their work seriously, adding that many workers don’t bother to come to work on certain days of the week.
