Rev. Fr. Evaristus Bassey, Director, Church and Society of the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria and Executive Secretary/CEO, of Caritas, Nigeria/JDPC
Worried by challenges of payment of salaries and other bills at Local Government Areas (LGAs), a Catholic non-governmental organisation, Caristas Nigeria has called on the National Assembly to revisit the issue of Councils’ autonomy.
The Catholic said, the national Assembly should out rightly abolish the current joint account system with the state government controlling council funds nation-wide.
A press release made available to some newsmen in Calabar, the group said “we read with keen interest the desire of the National Assembly to represent the constitutional amendments to President Muhammadu Buhari for his signature as amended rules of the legislature, now allows for things that were not finalised in the previous assembly to be carried over to the next assembly”.
The press statement which was signed by the Executive Secretary of Caristas, Rev. Evaristus Bassey said, “with a new government in place, and with majority of state governments coming under the APC, the APC dominated National Assembly should live to its progressive credentials by revisiting the issue of local government financial autonomy.
“Nigerian citizens are left powerless because they cannot exercise any power at the local government level, being that many state governors have forced their rubber stamp assemblies to enact corrupt laws that amass the revenue of local governments, and so there is little left for people to have any say as to the proper application of resources”.
The group further argued that, “with full financial autonomy which should come with the abrogating of joint accounts, people at community level shall be motivated and mobilised to ensure accountability at that level.
“Secondly with the assignment of portfolios, we suggest that Amina Mohammed, the former Under Secretary General of the UN, be made Minister of National Planning. This is in view of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)which need to be the bedrock of government policy and actions. And there are very few persons in the whole planet that understand these goals as much as Amina.
“The SDGs should not merely be a unit at the presidency but the very coordinating framework for governance in Nigeria. With Amina, and strong political will, Nigeria has a very strong chance of ensuring the well-being of all citizens through a well-coordinated program of sustainable development”.
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