UNDERSTANDING APC'S COMMITTEE REPORT FOR TRUE FEDERALISM : WITH FOCUS ON LGS

UNDERSTANDING APC'S COMMITTEE REPORT FOR TRUE FEDERALISM : WITH FOCUS ON LGS 

                           By:

         Nurudeen Dauda

        February 13th ,2018

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To begin with, LGs here means local government administration. Whether you are a believer of "Retructuring" or not, be aware that, for its to take place, the 1999 constitution as amended must be altered. In my understanding, the problem of Nigeria is both that of the "structure "and "leadership "rather than only that of "structure" and or "leadership ".

In my observation , the 23-man APC's restructuring committee was in a direct response to some politicians who wanted to "snatch" the political space ahead of 2019 general elections through the use of "restructuring " as the "whipping boy" for Nigeria's malfunctioning . In my judgement , APC by its quick response in setting up the restructuring committee had a "political masterstroke".

In my assessment, restructuring requires an average of between 2 to 3 years for its to be a reality . Restructuring can never be done by just "Executive Fiat". For its to happen the constitution must be amended. Section 9 sub section (2) of the 1999 constitution as amended states that for its to be altered there must be two-thirds majority votes in the Senate (which is 72 out of 109 senators ), for the House of Reps 240 of the 360 members and 24 States Houses of Assembly plus Abuja out of the 36 States plus Abuja.

However, there is a near "consensus" among analysts that the most "dysfuctional tier"of government in Nigeria among the three tiers is the local governments administration (LGs). It has been described by some scholars as a "collection" or "sharing" or "stealing" centres.In most cases, it has a lot of redundancy, abseenteeism and inefficiency among its workforce .

By reading the APC's committee report one will nothing, but observe that, the committee by its report does not call for the "total scrapping" of Local Government Administration in Nigeria. What It recommends is the removal of local governments from the federal constitution so that there will be no more allocation from the federal account.This will allow the state governments to determine their existence, size, and numbers based on their needs, resources and  or their economic viability.

What the report summarily means ,In my understanding, is that, if Lagos State with its huge financial strength needs 50 LGs, it could create them and fund them.  On the other hand, If Zamfara state with its low financial strength can afford only 10 LGs so be it. So, ultimately rather than the present creation and financing of LGs by the federal constitution it should going forward be determined by the states in relations to their economic needs.

In an attempt to improve our dysfunctional system of local governments, many analysts are of the belief that, the only way to improve local government admnistraion in Nigeria is to give them financial "Autonomy". In my view, we need both local governments "Autonomy" and "Reform. I am an advocate of both Local governments Autonomy and Reform. In my opinion, Autonomy and Reform in local government administration are symbiosis.

By LGs Autonomy it is means there should be the abolishment of section 162 of the 1999 constitution as amended which provides for State/LGs Joint Accounts thereafter the LGs will be getting their 20.6% share of the Federation Allocation directly on monthly basis.

A local government that depends largely on federal allocation, with its over staffing, absenteeism, and redundancy even if financial Autonomy is granted to its, it will hardly function effectively. As long as the issue of "Reform" which has to do with the number of workforce, number of departments, and self-sustenability issues are not looked at seriously. In my conclusion , the system will remain inefficient as well as ineffective even if there is Autonomy.

In summary, we need both local government Reform and Autonomy. We need reforms in terms of its structure, internal revenue, size of its workforce and democratic process. 

May God bless Nigeria!