By Abdulsalam Muhammad

KANO—The National President of the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees, NULGE, Ibrahim Khalil has accused state governors of frustrating grassroots development.
Khalil said in a statement in Kano, yesterday, that there was practically no hope for local councils in Nigeria so long as governors are empowered to oversee their affairs.

According to him, “most of these governors do not allow free and fair election in their states and often favour their anointed candidates with whom they connive to drain the council’s accounts.
“Dividends of democracy would continue to elude the electorate so long as governors are in control of local government finances.’’

Khalil further noted that the action of the state governors was driven by selfish motives, adding that as ‘’chief executive officers of the second tier of government, they have abdicated their responsibilities.’’
He, however, suggested that the only way to halt the trend was for local governments to have full autonomy.

The NULGE boss who was a member of the just concluded National Conference, stated that most of the councils had been deprived of their rights to development, adding that ‘’governors decide which projects goes to which councils without recourse to their developmental needs.’’

He maintained that the journey towards local government autonomy remained a struggle for all Nigerians to deliver the third tier of government from the clutches of politicians.