Biodun Akin-Fasae speaks on LG financial autonomy
My personal experience as a LG chairman and ALGON chairman in Ekiti state is that the financial autonomy campaign is better imagined than being a reality. First, LG system is a derivation of the state according to Section 7 of the 1999 constitution as amended. I also confirm that there are only two tiers of government in Nigeria and that the LG is an appendage of the state, which ordinarily should determine how many states and how they are governed. Previously, LG governments across the states of the federation couldn’t pay salaries and emonulments of staff until the idea of joint accounts came alive. And am talking authoritatively. In Ekiti state for example, and during the first term of governor Kayode Fayemi, everything went smoothly and he was always remitting 10% state IGR before LGs could have something substantial to run the system. Were it not so, LG system would have collapsed long time ago. LG was never tampered with, because there was nothing to tampered with. The joint accounts provided opportunity for even development. Through the joint accounts, salaries, including that of Obas and chiefs were promptly settled. If this were not so, there could have been chaos. If there is no joint account, only few states would have been saved from tumultuous scenes across the states of the federation.. I doubt whether any state house of assembly will have the interest to promote such bill.
