President Muhammadu Buhari says his administration will support a
\nconstitutional amendment to free local governments from the stranglehold
\nof states and better the lot of Nigerians at the community level.<\/p>\n
Receiving the leadership of the Association of Local Governments in
\nNigeria (ALGON) on Thursday in Abuja, President Buhari said a
\nconstitutional amendment was urgently required to clearly define the
\nrelationship among the three tiers of government.<\/p>\n
He described the frosty relationship between states and local government
\nas \u201ca very serious constitutional problem\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe relationship between the three tiers of government is not a very nice
\none, especially that between the local governments and the states.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe states feel like they own the local government, if they are of the
\nsame party.\u00a0 It is worse if they are not.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a very serious constitutional problem and unless there is
\nabsolute clarity and transparency, the relationship will continue to be
\nexploited against the interest of the ordinary people of the country,\u201d the
\nPresident said.<\/p>\n
President Buhari advised the ALGON executives to hold consultations with
\ntheir people and lawyers with a view to presenting a bill that will seek a
\nconstitutional amendment to free the councils from the stranglehold of the
\nstates.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis will limit the damage they can do to you. The quicker you do this
\nthe better, so that you can help your people much more,\u201d the President
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
The President acknowledged the request by ALGON for the release of 3.2
\nbillion dollars wrongfully deducted by the Federal government for the
\nfinal settlement of foreign debts in 2005.<\/p>\n
Supported by Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, the Minister of Finance, President Buhari
\nsaid the government recognized the judgment debt but the timing of the
\nrequest for its repayment was wrong given the current economic situation
\nin the country.<\/p>\n
In his remarks,\u00a0 Acting ALGON National President Alhaji Ibrahim Ahmed
\nKaraye presented a six-point demand to the President which included the
\nrepayment of the 3.2 billion debt and the need to ensure the sovereignty
\nof local government administration in the country.<\/p>\n
The ALGON leaders expressed their full support to the President\u2019s
\nprogrammes on improving security, anti-corruption campaign and economic
\nrevival.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
President Muhammadu Buhari says his administration will support a constitutional amendment to free local governments from the stranglehold of states and better the lot of Nigerians at the community level.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":52597,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-53193","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n