My Stance On LG Autonomy –Gov AbdulRazaq…It’s Inconsistent With Your Actions-Kwara PDP
Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq of Kwara state, who is the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, has given his stance on the agitations for full autonomy for the third tier of government in the country.
Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq submitted in a statement he issued in Ilorin on Tuesday that he believes in full autonomy for the local governments.
He also clarified and asserted that the position of the state in the ongoing legal proceedings on local governments is that the State of Harmony has not violated any section of the law regarding ‘autonomy’.
‘It is my personal belief that each local government should manage its resources and be responsible for its obligations, including wages that are first line charges. I also believe that a state governor should not be held liable if any local government is unable to pay salaries since we do not touch a kobo of their money.
We also do not have any joint project accounts with any local government in the state, as was the case with the previous administration in our state.
These are my personal beliefs. But my personal belief is not necessarily the same as the letters of the law, including the provisions of the JAAC, which is a creation of the Constitution. As of today, local government allocations are sent to the JAAC as required by the law. Section 162 of the Constitution is very clear on this.
As things stand today, no activity of the local government in Kwara state is at variance with these provisions of the law. Our case in the court is not about my personal belief. It is about the fact that we believe in the defence of the constitution, which created JAAC for reasons that are well-grounded in our experiences as a people. JAAC, in summary, pulls resources together to pay all teachers, health workers, traditional rulers, and other statutory duties listed in the schedule of the local government areas. If we all want these to change as a national consensus, we believe that the constitution will have to be amended to expunge JAAC’ he added.
In a statement made available to Team@orientactualmags.com by its Publicity Secretary, Mr Segun Adewara on Wednesday, Kwara state PDP picked holes in the assertions made by the governor alleging that all he had said are inconsistent with his actions.
The party condemned what it described as an attempt by Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq ‘to deceive and confuse the people of Kwara state with his contradictory positions on local government autonomy’.
‘Recall that our party last week praised the Federal Government’s decision to approach the Supreme Court in a bid to rescue the 16 local governments from Governor AbdulRazaq’ s wicked manipulation and strangulation. We also cautioned the governor against filing an objection to the Federal Government’s processes at the Supreme Court, as this would undermine the FG’s people-friendly intention to make local governments autonomous and work for the people.
However, in a desperate bid to continue his manipulation and extend his illegal control over local government funds in Kwara state, Governor Abdulrazaq, through the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice in the state, Mr. Senior Ibrahim Sulyman, has filed an objection to the FG’s case at the Supreme Court. Shockingly, the governor even made it known to the court that granting local governments their autonomy would further impoverish the people’ the party added.
Kwara state PDP also claimed that Governor Abdulrazaq after sensing the public condemnation that had greeted the processes he had filed at the Supreme Court, quickly directed his media handlers to issue a statement distancing himself from it and the party has called this ‘inconsistency’.
‘For the record, the first official action taken by Abdulrahman as governor of Kwara state, shortly after his inauguration on May 29, 2019, was to connive with his surrogates in the House of Assembly to illegally dissolve the existing democratic structure in the 16 local governments by announcing the suspension of all its elected officials, despite court orders restraining him and the House from doing so.
Governor Abdulrahman relied on trumped-up allegations of misappropriation, which to date could not be established against any of the officials, to sack them without committing any crime other than being members of the opposition party.
It should be noted that a few months after, those elected officials indicated their interest in joining APC, the governor’s political party, and immediately, the investigation into the alleged corruption was halted, with one of them now appointed as Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs.
This singular action is an indictment on the governor and the Kwara state House of Assembly. It further exposes Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq as an enemy of democracy and, the rule of law, and a clog in the wheel of local government autonomy and progress.
The Kwara PDP wishes to also remind Kwarans that two years ago, during a constitution amendment process aimed at granting full autonomy to local governments in Nigeria, out of 16 states that voted in support of the LG autonomy bill, Kwara state at the instance of Governor Abdulrahman, was intentionally absent. Sixteen other progressive states like Osun, Edo, Anambra, Cross Rivers, Kano, etc., were there to cast their votes in favor of LG autonomy.
The Kwara PDP asks Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq: where was his belief in LG Autonomy at the time in question when he ought to have mobilized his House of Assembly to join other states with genuine desires for LG autonomy?
Under Governor Abdulrahman’s leadership in Kwara state, local government governance was marred by the unprecedented appointment of governor’s surrogates as caretaker committees, who even spent more than 3 years in office’ the statement added-Team@orientactualmags.com Do you have any information you wish to share with us? Do you want us to cover your event or programme? Kindly send SMS to 08059100286, 09094171980 or get in touch via orientactualmag@gmail.com. Thank you
