President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday advised local government administrators across the country to fight for an amendment to the Constitution, so as to limit the powers of state government over their activities.
President Buhari offered the advise when he played host to the leadership of the Association of Local Governments in Nigeria in Abuja, stating that some ambiguities in the constitution have made it difficult for local governments to operate independently and serve as a loophole for the state governments to manipulate local councils.
“This will limit the damage they can do to you. The quicker you do this the better, so that you can help your people much more,” Mr. Buhari said in a statement signed by his media aide, Garba Shehu.
“The relationship between the three tiers of government is not a very nice one, especially that between the local governments and the states.”
“The states feel like they own the local government, if they are of the same party. It is worse if they are not.”
“This is a very serious constitutional problem and unless there is absolute clarity and transparency, the relationship will continue to be exploited against the interest of the ordinary people of the country.”
Mr. Buhari, therefore, urged ALGON leadership to quickly draft an amendment to the Constitution and push same through the legislature.
The local government officials used the occasion to remind Mr. Buhari about a pending $3.2 billion which the administration of President Olusegun Obasanjo allegedly illegally deducted from local government allocation as part of the 2005 national debt settlement.
Acting National Chairman of ALGON, Ibrahim Karaye, told President Buhari that local government workers would be grateful if he could help resolve the stalemate.
