The Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission has advocated for full autonomy for Local Government Councils in Nigeria, emphasising that this move will alleviate poverty and curb the escalating trend of rural-urban migration in the nation.
This was as it backed legal efforts by the federal government to free LGs from the control of state governments by enforcing the constitution’s provisions.
The RMAFC Chairman, Mohammed Shehu, in a statement issued on Wednesday in Abuja, noted that local government councils, as the third tier of government, should operate independently of state and federal governments to ensure effective grassroots governance.
On May 26, the Federal Government instituted a legal action against the governors of the 36 states of the federation at the Supreme Court over alleged misconduct in the administration of Local Government Areas.
The suit filed by the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, is seeking full autonomy for all local government areas in the country.
In suit, the government specifically prayed the court to issue an order, prohibiting state governors from embarking on unilateral, arbitrary and unlawful dissolution of democratically elected local government leaders.
In another suit, marked SC/CV/343/2024, the government asked the apex court to enforce the autonomy of the local government by, among other things, stopping state governors from appointing caretaker committees to administer local governments in their states.
Speaking in support of the motion, Shehu noted that the Nigerian Constitution recognises federal, state, and local governments as distinct tiers, each drawing funds from the Federation Account.
Shehu criticised the dominance of State governments over LGCs, which undermines their political, administrative, and financial independence.
This control he said hinders LGs’ ability to provide quality infrastructure and social services, as intended by the Constitution. He also highlighted that State control makes it difficult for citizens to elect their local leaders, affecting governance closest to the people.
The RMAFC boss said, “Granting full autonomy to LGCs will reduce poverty, curb rural-urban migration, and deliver more democratic benefits to the populace. It will also attract qualified candidates for council elections, improving governance across all levels”.
“Full autonomy will promote good governance, transparency, and accountability at the local level,” Shehu stated.
“Security challenges like banditry, kidnappings, terrorism, and electoral violence would be minimised if local government funds are directed towards rural development,” he added.
The chairman posited that the current spate of insecurity in all parts of the country could be arrested if LGCs were granted full autonomy.
Shehu emphasised the importance of granting full autonomy to LGCs, allowing them to recruit, manage staff, raise finances, make bylaws and discharge their functions without State government interference, thereby ensuring their full bureaucratic autonomy.
“Financial autonomy of local government entails the freedom to impose local taxation, generate revenue within its assigned sources, allocate its financial and material resources, determine and authorize its annual budgets without external interference. It also relates to the disposition of tax powers, retention of revenue and methods adopted in sharing centrally collected revenue by the constitutional responsibilities of all levels of government,” he maintained.
The chairman further said, “It is worth noting that the Constitution has made it explicitly clear that there must be a democratically elected local government system in place and that the Constitution has not made provisions for any other systems of governance at the Local Government level other than democratically elected local government system”
It is the position of the RMAFC that Local Governments should be granted fiscal autonomy by paying statutory allocations from the Federation Account directly to their coffers.
The commission therefore fully supports the ongoing suit instituted by the Federal Government asking for an order permitting the funds standing in the credits of local governments to be directly channelled to them from the Federation Account.
He stressed that RMAFC would continue to be a strategic partner in the efforts to reposition local government councils to discharge their constitutional responsibilities in Nigeria, calling on CSOs and the media to be at the forefront of efforts to ensure that local government autonomy becomes a reality in Nigeria.