Anambra State Governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, has cautioned against granting full autonomy to Nigeria’s 774 local government areas, warning it could lead to significant disorder and not necessarily drive sustainable development.
Soludo made these remarks on Tuesday at the Governor’s Lodge in Amawbia, Awka, after signing the “Anambra Local Government Administration Law 2024,” a law recently passed by the State House of Assembly.
Highlighting the constitutional role of state governments in overseeing local governance, Soludo pointed out that Section 7 of Nigeria’s constitution grants states the authority to pass laws governing local administration.
He said, “The absolute autonomy to the 774 local government areas in the country is an impossibility. In fact, it is a recipe for humongous chaos. The attendant challenges before the issue of local government autonomy are such that would certainly deepen the fate of the system and spell doom for the expected beneficiaries of the process if not well planned.”
Soludo underscored that the new law was crafted to promote stability, transparency, and collaboration between the state and local government tiers.
“The new laws by Anambra House of Assembly are therefore consequential to give operational life to the Supreme Court judgment and not to undermine it.
“If the State House of Assembly abdicates this constitutional duty, the Local Government will then have no law on the use and management of its finance,” he explained, adding that without state oversight, many local governments might struggle financially and require state bailouts.
The governor further discussed the interplay between federal and state powers, noting, “The Federal Government has exclusive rights over resources, but the state has exclusive rights over the land. At the state level, each state is spending a fortune on its revenue.
“No tier of government can function without the collaboration of others. The three tiers have the objective of the people. The FG is not completely autonomous of the state. It’s a collaborative arrangement to achieve the same objective.”
Addressing accusations that state governors control local government finances for personal gain, Soludo refuted the claims, suggesting that these perceptions stem from mistrust.
“Governors are often accused of seeking to ‘control’ LG funds with insinuations that LG funds are mismanaged. Of course, in a society where public office is seen as ‘dining table’ and public trust is low, people judge others by their own standards,” he stated.
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