Making a mockery of the fundamental objectives for the establishment of the local council administration, as the third tier of government are the faulty ways and manners they have been administered by successive state governors in the country over the years.

Though Section 7(1) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) clearly guarantees the establishment of local governments, with the structure, composition, finance and functions to be promulgated by the state House of Assembly, the infractions deliberately caused by the governors have run against the dictates of democratic principles.

For instance, such governors have unilaterally dissolved democratically elected councils at their whims and caprices, illegally formed the so called state-local government joint accounts overtly controlled by them. They go further to establish caretaker communities to manage the affairs of the councils.

All these actions are out of tandem with the constitution which the state governors swore to abide by. It is little of a surprise therefore, that the illegality on the part of the governors in the running of local government affairs has led to the crippling of its impact on the quality of life of the mass of citizens at the grassroots.

Amongst the stipulated functions of the local government councils are the provision and maintenance of the primary, adult and vocational training as well as the development of agricultural and natural resources other than the exploitation of solid minerals.

Some other key duties include the naming of streets, the numbering of houses and the provision and maintenance of public conveniences. Sewage and waste disposal are part and parcel of these. While it is also their duty to undertake the registration of births, deaths and marriages, on the economic front they assess and collect tenement rates.

Similarly, they control and regulate outdoor advertising, licensing and the control of alcohol. But the perception and description of local government councils have been on the negative side of public governance.

Back in 2003 when the then President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo administration embarked on the reforms of local government councils, with the Etsu Nupe-led Panel it drew flacks from the Coalition of Political Parties (CNPP) made of 20 of them. In fact, APGA labelled the move as “a coup against the Nigerian people”. But the pertinent questions remained.

To strengthen the ethos, ethics and dictates of democracy, the autonomy of the local government councils should not be compromised on the altar of self serving leadership, at any level of government

The focus at that time was on freeing it from the stranglehold of the state governors, with the joint account brouhaha, the invalidation of the controversial Electoral Act 2001 even as the tenure of the council chairmen were still unresolved.

Incidentally, the decision came up at a time when a marketing consultant with the Odutola Group of Companies, Olatodun Falue, described the existing 774 local government councils as “stealing centres’’.

In a similar vein, the then Provost of the Federal College of Education, Okene, Kogi State, Professor Aliyu Abdullahi raised alarm over the obvious lack of physical structures despite the allocations made to the local government councils.

His position was similar to that of the Anambra State NULGE President, Godwin Ibekwe. Though the fears back in 2003 was about the possible doing away with the third tier of government, it was not scrapped. But its independence is still under question.

It is on that premise that the President Bola Tinubu-led government’s recent move by initiating a legal procedure against the 36 state governors, alleging misconduct with regards to the administration of the local government councils must be taken with all the seriousness it deserves.

The recent suit, SC/ CV/343/2024, filed by the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), at the Supreme Court, based on 27 grounds seeks full autonomy of the local councils. In specific terms, it wants it to issue an order prohibiting the state governors from unilaterally dissolving democratically elected councils.

It is also calling for the assurance that funds meant for the councils, from the Federation Account are sent directly into their accounts rather than the questionable joint account, mostly controlled by the governors. The suit wants the governors to stop the establishment of caretaker committees, which is in violation of the constitutionally guaranteed democratic system of government.

To strengthen the ethos, ethics and dictates of democracy the autonomy of the local government councils should not be compromised on the altar of self-serving leadership, at any level of government.

The third tier should be independent and made strong so that the house of democracy could be built on the tripod of the federal, state and local governments. With that, governance will be brought closer to the grassroots. If the ongoing review of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) is what it would take to do the needful, so let it be.

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