GROUP WANTS TINUBU TO DEFEND LG AUTONOMY

GROUP WANTS TINUBU TO DEFEND LG AUTONOMY.                 

Neighbourhood Coalition,a burgeoning support group of the All Progressives Congress, with vested interests in good governance in the country, has raised concerns over what it described as "near collapse of local government administration in the country.

"The group said "unfortunately the near collapse of local government administration in the country is a festering sore that has defiled all cures previously administered.".                    

Rising from a Town Hall Meeting in Calabar, the group maintained that what is known of Local Government Administration in the past is a case of having people who are in place to collect Council Funds and handover to the State Chief Executive Officers, noting that development at the third tier Government has for long remained a mirage.

                         

"Chairmen are only Revenue Agents for Governors. 

They only collect Local Government Allocation for which they handover to Governors,at times under duress.

 "Unfortunately,some of them do not even have a dot of any development project or programme for which these funds purportedly collected."        

In a five point communique reached at the end of the meeting,the Group pointed out the need for local government to be detached from the apron strings of the Governors.        

"Now, with current economic reality in the country,there is the strongest desire of the people to witness development at the grassroots in the interest of addressing issues of vulnerability in the rural communities."                    

According to the Communique which was jointly signed by the National Coordinator, Hon. Stephen Enang and Secretary, the Coalition, said giving the third tier Government the same autonomy treatment of the state and federal government would not only guarantee even distribution of resources and development but will ensure that Democratic governance is deepened.                           

He urged State Governors not to wait for the President to give a marching order before they come to terms with the idea,stating that "rather they should be guided by the history of his administration of Lagos where he had a running encounter with the Federal Government over issues related to the financial autonomy of the third tier administration then."                                   

The Communique also called on the Federal Government to root for such autonomy if the assurances of impacting most vulnerable people is anything to go by.