By Francis Ogwo
Nigeria commemorated her Democracy Day on June 12 and as usual, it brings to the fore, so many issues especially about human rights and democracy. While some groups celebrate freedom of decisions, others are clamouring for autonomy especially in decisions on revenues and expenditures.
Local Governments as the third tier of government represents the grassroots and are closer to the rural area but have had running battles with the Federal and State on their independence in the management of their funds
Reports indicate that last year, a guideline was issued by the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), barring governors from interfering with statutory allocation made for local councils from the Federation Account.
According to the guidelines which was titled: ‘NFIU enforcement and guidelines to reduce crime vulnerabilities created by cash withdrawal from Local Government funds throughout Nigeria’, which was effect from June 1, 2019’, it was aimed at entrenching and enthroning financial transparency at the local council level and making funds available for development at the grassroots.
The guidelines stipulated imposed a daily N500,000 cash transaction limit on all the 774 local councils in the country while stopping banks, financial institutions, public officers and other stakeholders from meddling with local council statutory allocations. This development did not go down well with the governors who swiftly opposed it.
The governors under the platform of Nigeria Governors Forum complained to President Muhammadu Buhari that the guidelines was high-handed and was beyond borders.
In a swift move, the AGF sent a letter to President Buhari dated May 15, 2019, arguing that the NFIU Act 2018 did not empower ALGON with the power it is trying to exercise and therefore, contravened the constitution.
The governors argued further that local councils were not financial institutions but carved out by provisions of the constitution while adding that the councils are not reporting entities and therefore, not under the NFIU in the manner contemplated by its so-called guidelines.
“In principle, the NFIU should concentrate on its core mandate of anti-money laundering activities and combating financing terrorism as prescribed in the Act establishing it. It should desist from encroaching on or even breaching constitutional provisions.
The NFIU is the Nigerian arm of the Global Financial Intelligence Units. It was once domiciled within the EFCC, but now, for the purpose of institutional location, it is domiciled in the Central Bank of Nigeria.
“The NFIU should comply with those standards on combating money laundering and financing of terrorism and its proliferation as stipulated and not dabble into matters that are both unconstitutional and beyond NFIU purview,” the NGF added.
While this controversy and rebellion against the directive lasted, many Nigerians and groups, including the Trade Union Congress (TUC) and the National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE), rallied support for the NFIU.
Opinions by individuals and groups supporting the NFIU said the guidelines would curtail reckless spending of funds at the local councils.
Several personalities have laid their voices for or against the crave for autonomy for local governments.
The National Vice President of the Association of Local Government of Nigeria (ALGON), Muhammad Mahmud-Aliyu had in a recent interview with the News Agency of Nigeria, said granting autonomy to local government councils will facilitate socio-economic development at the grassroots.
He said, “The move by the Federal Government to ensure the autonomy of Local Government Councils in Nigeria is a welcome development.
“We have nothing to say but to thank Almighty God and also to thank the Federal Government for its gigantic effort toward actualising the lingering move.
“Local Government Councils and many other organisations have long before, now been agitating for the autonomy of the third tier of government, now we are happy our dream is about to become a reality.”
He, however, said it is not a new thing in Kaduna State, because, local government councils have been enjoying such autonomy from Governor Nasir el-Rufa’i.
“This is not a new thing to us here in Kaduna State. Already, the state government had granted us financial autonomy because when we were elected into office, a guideline different from what was practised before was introduced by the state government.
“In the new system, the executive and legislative arms were reintroduced, while our grants come to us directly and I believe every resident of Kaduna State is a living witness that there are tremendous positive changes across the state.
“Here I mean changes in the area of projects execution at the grassroots levels. Taking myself as an example, I have awarded different contracts worth over N1 billion and I paid over 80 per cent in most of the contracts,” he said.
The case is not the same in some states as from across the country.
While some states claim total compliance with the directive, others claim partial compliance but the council workers and residents sing discordant tunes.
In Ekiti State, there was a recent crisis on the financial autonomy of the 16 local governments in the state in line with the NFIU new guidelines.
A respondent revealed that nothing has changed since the NFIU guideline was released.
According to them, though the local governments get their accounts credited, there was still the Joint Account Allocation Committee (JAAC) monthly meeting where the money was redistributed to fund joint projects and other sundry matters by the state government.
A resident of Ado local government in the state capital, Mr Gbenga Ibitoye, observed that as the tier of government closer to the grassroots, the local governments were supposed to assist in the maintenance of roads linking communities but said residents contribute to maintain roads, culverts and drainage channels, despite the claim by the council chairmen that they now have appreciable control of their allocations. To him, the local governments have become shadows of themselves.
Another source said that until the autonomy of local governments was granted through the amendment of relevant sections of the constitution, the NFIU guidelines could not guarantee the independence of the third tier. “As far as I am concerned, it is still business as usual; nothing has changed,” he said.
The Chairman of the state chapter of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON), Mr Akolade Amiri, who also doubles as Chairman of Ekiti South West Local Government Area, however, asserted that the new autonomy has brought positive impact on the functions of the third tier of government in the state.
Amiri clarified that the monthly JAAC meetings were not convened to receive instructions from the state government on how members would deploy their resources as was the case in the past, but mainly to associate and do peer review.
Another local government Chairman, who craved anonymity, said the councils still operated a joint account with the state but revealed that they also had separate accounts where the monthly allocations were being remitted.
He explained that he spends the allocations to his council on payment of workers’ salaries and maintenance of the council’s facilities, among other things.
The Chairman, Nigeria Union of Local Governments (NULGE), Comrade Bunmi Ajimoko, said granting full financial autonomy to the third tier of government would speed up rapid development at the grassroots level. He said the union was fully in support of financial autonomy to the councils, noting that it would also make them deliver more on the welfare of the workers.
The debate for autonomy has been subjecting of concern across states in Nigeria.
With the waving of flags to mark democracy hitting the screens and loid headlines greeting readers, it is a subject of concern of the true essence of democracy would be adopted in the clamour for local government autonomy.
But before then, achieving the financial autonomy for local governments may still be a tall dream.
