Anambra State Governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, has said that granting full autonomy to Nigeria’s 774 local government areas could lead to “humongous chaos” and hinder sustainable development.
Governor Soludo made this statement on Tuesday at the Governor’s Lodge in Amawbia, Awka, after signing the Anambra State Local Government Administration Law, titled “Anambra Local Government Administration Law 2024.”
The law was passed by the State House of Assembly last Thursday.
Soludo argued that absolute autonomy for local government areas is impossible and would create chaos due to the attendant challenges. He said that Section 7 of the constitution empowers state governments to enact laws for local government administration, highlighting the importance of state oversight.
“The absolute autonomy to the 774 local government areas in the country is an impossibility,” Soludo said. “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 explained that the new laws are consequential to the Supreme Court judgment and not intended to undermine it.
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,” Soludo stated. “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.”
Correspondence reports that the bill requires local government areas (LGAs) to remit a portion of their federal allocations into a consolidated account controlled by the state.
Section 13(1) of the bill stipulates that the state shall maintain a “State Joint Local Government Account” into which all federal allocations to LGAs must be deposited. Section 14(3) of it mandates that each LGA must remit a state-determined percentage to the consolidated account within two working days of receiving their allocations.
Meanwhile, Section 14(4) outlines that if the state receives the LGA’s allocation on their behalf, it must deduct the specified percentage before disbursing the remaining funds to the LGA.
