By CHARLES IWUOHA

The Progressive Students Movement (PSM), a pan-African students movement, on Monday urged members of the National Assembly to formulate a law stopping governors of the 36 states from conducting Local Government polls.

The President of PSM, Amb Bestman Okereafor, said in a statement in Enugu on Monday that it was imperative to have council areas’ electoral freedom for the recent Supreme Court pronounced financial autonomy to the council areas to make desired impact.

It would be recalled that the Supreme Court, in a judgment delivered by Justice Emmanuel Agim on behalf of a seven-man justices panel, ordered the Federal Government to begin direct payment of monthly allocations into local councils’ exclusive accounts.

Okereafor said that the movement considered the judgment as “a landmark judgment and one which will have direct positive impact on the lives of the common man at the grassroots.”

“This judgment tends to help strengthen our democracy, uphold our constitutional rights and ideals of local governments as regards financial autonomy.

“It will check historic retrogression suffered by council areas in terms of governors solely and frequently appointing caretaker chairmen and handpicking local government chairmen and councillors in connivance with their respective state electoral commissions.

“We commend Hon Justice Emmanuel Agim for standing on the path of freedom, equity and social justice. May God bless you (Justice Agim) for standing with the people.

“As intellectuals, PSM is calling on the National Assembly to as a matter of urgency stop state governments from conducting local government elections for the purpose of transparency, fairness and accountability,” he said.

The PSM boss said that the movement was strongly recommending that local government elections should be conducted forthwith by INEC through their zonal/state offices.

According to him, we are of the view that leaving the conduct of local government elections in the hands of state Governors who are already unpleased with the Supreme Court judgment, simply means they are still controlling the local chairmen.

“The angry governors will want to remain chief determinants of who gets what and how the finance is being spent even at the council areas and not the Nigeria people living at the grassroots,” he said.

Okereafor said that PSM salute the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), for having the courage to pursue the case to a logical conclusion in the interest of the Nigerian masses.

“PSM commend President Bola Tinubu for allowing due process and rule of law by not interfering in the judicial process and equally affirming that the decision of the apex court is of historic significance.

“We strongly believe that the Supreme Court judgment will in no little ways help improve the economy of our people at the grassroots.

“We are calling on our youths to massively contest at the local government level in their respective states basically for the renewal of lost hope,” he added.

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