Reject
Immunity For Lawmakers
Plans are
underway by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Nigerian Union of Local
Government Employees (NULGE) to engage state governors and the Nigeria
Governors Forum to ensure that state Houses of Assembly approve autonomy to
local government in the country.
NLC
President, Ayuba Wabba, speaking in Abuja on the inclusion of autonomy for
local government councils in the proposed amendment to the constitution, lauded
the leaderships of both chambers of the National Assembly for listening to the
yearnings of Nigerians.
He, however,
said the labour movement remained opposed to granting immunity to lawmakers
outside of the present immunity granted them to carry out their oversight
responsibilities.
Wabba stated
that the labour appreciates the level of work needed to be done before the Bill
can sail through the state assemblies, adding: “There are plans to engage our
governors with a view to getting their buy-in into the Bill.
“We are
going to engage them both individually and collective at the Governors Forum
level. We are optimistic that the governors are also desirous of seeing
development taking root at the local government level, which can only be
guaranteed by efficient local government administration.”
He said the
labour believes that if passed into law, the amendments would free the local
governments from the stranglehold of state governments, widen the democratic
space and restore the lost glory of local governments.
“Until
progressive decline and bastardisation set in, the local government represented
the centre of administrative excellence, clinical efficiency, training,
education, development, tax administration and effective commodity boards.
“Local
governments also represented maintenance culture of infrastructure, including
roads, environmental sanitation, functional health facilities, low incidences
of corruption and violent crimes.
“The
singular reason for this magical performance was that local governments were
close to the people and ministered to their needs,” he recalled.
Wabba
insisted that autonomy of local government would ensure that the local
government system develops as a third tier of government with the capacity to
discharge its constitutional responsibilities to its constituents; strengthen
democratic decentralisation of power and put power back in the hands of the
citizenry at the grassroots level of governance; give a voice to the voiceless,
especially the minorities who have been short-changed at the state and federal
levels of government; make local governments training ground for leadership at
state and federal levels of power; deliver development to about 180million
Nigerians; stem rural-urban migration; lower crime rate; and quicken payment of
salaries, pensions and gratuities.
He urged
members of the 36 state Assemblies to be on the side of the people and history
by displaying the courage of the colleagues at the National Assembly by giving
their unqualified support to the autonomy of local government councils in the
country.
0 Comments