By Kabir Dankatsina

BIRNIN KEBBI—AS the controversy over local government autonomy continues, Governor Abubakar Bagudu has said Kebbi State will stand by the majority on whether to accept it or not.

Gov. Bagudu

He stated this in Birnin Kebbi when the leadership of the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employee, NULGE, led by its National President, Mr. Ibrahim Khalid, paid him a visit.

Bagudu told them that if they need autonomy, there must be an amendment of the Nigerian Constitution.

The governor said: “To my understanding, what this means is financial and administrative autonomy and each of these has its value.

“When I assumed office in 2015, we undertook a verification of all the 21 local government areas only to discover that 13 of them could not pay salaries.

“So if the autonomy was in place, what would happen?”

Speaking earlier, NULGE National President, Mr. Khalid, told Governor Bagudu that they came to Kebbi to present their case for onward submission to the National Assembly.