By Dayo Benson, Abdulwahab Abdulah & Bartholomew Madukwe

One of the issues President Muhammadu Buhari has promised Nigerians to tackle is endemic corruption in the polity. Before assuming office, he was passionate about his stance against corruption that he said it is either Nigerians kills corruption or corruption will kill Nigeria.

Expectedly, in President Buhari’s inaugural speech on May 29, he did not mince words in expressing his determination to fight the scourge in the three tiers of government via the ambit of the constitution. Specifically, the president who is not unmindful of the fact that the people at the grass-root must enjoy democracy dividend, said he would no longer allow local government funds to be plundered by states.

MOHAMMADU BUHARI

Obviously, the president spoke against the backdrop of the practice whereby state governors have been using joint account with the councils to deny them funds which they constitutionally entitled to.

According President Buhari: |”It is only when the three arms act constitutionally that government will be enabled to serve the country optimally and avoid the confusion all too often bedevilling governance today.

Constitutionally there are limits to powers of each of the three tiers of government but that should not mean the federal government should fold its arms and close its eyes to what is going on in the states and local governments, not least, the operations of the Local Government Joint Account.

While the federal government cannot interfere in the details of its operations it will ensure that the gross corruption at the local level is checked.

As far as the constitution allows me, I will try to ensure that there is responsible and accountable governance at all levels of government in the country. I will not have kept my own trust with the Nigerian people if I allow others abuse theirs under my watch.” Given the provisions of the constitution that spells out the functions of each tiers of government, the question is how does the president intend to achieve this without undermining the law.

Many have argued that the only way to free the local government from the grip of states is for the constitution to guarantee its autonomy. Unfortunately, this could be achieved by the failed constitution amendment carried out by the 7th National Assembly. The proposal could not pass the two-third of the 36 states Houses of Assembly.

The argument of most of the former governors was that autonomy for the local government would not engender development for the council areas. But some Nigerians have argued that local government are not carrying out their functions as provided in the constitution.

Section 7 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as amended provides that: gThe system of local government by democratically elected local government councils is under this Constitution guaranteed; and accordingly, the Government of every State shall, subject to section 8 of this Constitution, ensure their existence under a Law which provides for the establishment, structure, composition, finance and functions of such councils.

(2) The person authorised by law to prescribe the area over which a local government council may exercise authority shall- (a) define such area as clearly as practicable; and (b) ensure, to the extent to which it may be reasonably justifiable that in defining such area regard is paid to –

(i) the common interest of the community in the area; (ii) traditional association of the community; and (iii) administrative convenience. (3) it shall be the duty of a local government council within the State to participate in economic planning and development of the area referred to in subsection (2) of this section and to this end an economic planning board shall be established by a Law enacted by the House of Assembly of the State.

(4) The Government of a State shall ensure that every person who is entitled to vote or be voted for at an election to House of Assembly shall have the right to vote or be voted for at an election to a local government council. (5) The functions to be conferred by Law upon local government council shall include those set out in the Fourth Schedule to this Constitution.

(6) Subject to the provisions of this Constitution – (a) The National Assembly shall make provisions for statutory allocation of public revenue to local government councils in the Federation; and (b) The House of Assembly of a State shall make provisions for statutory allocation of public revenue to local government councils within the State.

(b) A proposal for the boundary adjustment is approved by a simple majority of members of the House of Assembly in respect of the area concerned.

5. An Act of the National Assembly passed in accordance with this section shall make consequential provisions with respect to the names and headquarters of State or Local government areas as provided in section 3 of this Constitution and in Parts I and II of the First Schedule to this Constitution.
6. For the purpose of enabling the National Assembly to exercise the powers conferred upon it by subsection (5) of this section, each House of Assembly shall, after the creation of more local government areas pursuant to subsection (3) of this section, make adequate returns to each House of the National Assembly

Also, Sections 1 and 2 of the fourth schedule of the same constitution, further explains the functions of the local governments. It states: “The main functions of a local government council are as follows: (a) The consideration and the making of recommendations to a State commission on economic planning or any similar body on –

(i) The economic development of the State, particularly in so far as the areas of authority of the council and of the State are affected, and (ii) proposals made by the said commission or body; (b) collection of rates, radio and television licences; (c) establishment and maintenance of cemeteries, burial grounds and homes for the destitute or infirm;

(d) licensing of bicycles, trucks (other than mechanically propelled trucks), canoes, wheel barrows and carts; (e) establishment, maintenance and regulation of slaughter houses, slaughter slabs, markets, motor parks and public conveniences; (f) construction and maintenance of roads, streets, street lightings, drains and other public highways, parks, gardens, open spaces, or such public facilities as may be prescribed from time to time by the House of Assembly of a State;

(g) naming of roads and streets and numbering of houses; (h) provision and maintenance of public conveniences, sewage and refuse disposal; (i) registration of all births, deaths and marriages; (j) assessment of privately owned houses or tenements for the purpose of levying such rates as may be prescribed by the House of Assembly of a State; and

(k) control and regulation of – (i) out-door advertising and hoarding, (ii) movement and keeping of pets of all description, (iii) shops and kiosks, (iv) restaurants, bakeries and other places for sale of food to the public, (v) laundries, and (vi) licensing, regulation and control of the sale of liquor.

2. The functions of a local government council shall include participation of such council in the Government of a State as respects the following matters –
3. the provision and maintenance of primary, adult and vocational education;

(b) the development of agriculture and natural resources, other than the exploitation of materials (c) the provision and maintenance of health services; and (d) such other functions as may be conferred on a local government council by the House of Assembly of the State.

Going by these constitutional provisions, it appears local governments functions and responsibilities are at the behest of state government, and that is why many are wondering how President Buhari can go in his effort ensure that the third tier of government get what is due to it. Or is it going to be a case of the more you look, the less you see.

Lawyers who spoke to Vanguard Law and Human Rights expressed different views on this issue. According to Mr Festus Keyamo, Lawyer and activist, “the president is trying to enforce the autonomy of the local government, especially on the provisions of the constitution because what we have seen from 1999 is the brazen breach of the constitutional provisions that deal with the autonomy of the local governments. So the President has acted intelligently.

The issue of joint account has been a major issue by the governors of the states. Chairmen of the local governments in the country are being treated like house boys. It has always been like that. On the other hand however, the argument has been that the local governments too are so corrupt that to leave funds at their disposal may lead to disaster.

At the same time the president cannot say he is holding funds for somebody or another tier of government over allegation of corruption. All we need to do is to deal with corruption at that level. How do we do that? We need to decentralize the activities of the anti corruption bodies and have the one that deals with the issue of corruption at the local level. We can check their activities annually or quarterly as the case may be.

As regards section 7 of the constitution, it does not give the state executive powers to deal with the local government’s finances. It only gives the state the supervisory role to maintain balance in the running of the local governments . Also speaking on the issue, former NBA chairman, Ikeja branch, Mr Moday Ubani said , ‘”my position is that the constitution can be amended to remove the joint account stuff.

Let the local government money go to them directly. So far as good as it is, for the local government to control the finance of their councils, before then, every state government must be made to conduct election into the councils unlike the caretaker stuff that is being run in our councils.

“These guys will be bound to be loyal to the person that put them there. There are so many things going wrong. If you look at it, the roads the local councils need to provide are not there, the motor parks and markets are there etc. There must be proper accountability too, because if you allow the local government chairmen to be in office without a check, this will also lead to lack of accountability.

I am in total support of Mr president’s view, but it must be done without interference from the Federal Government as well.” In his own opinion Chief Morah Ekwunoh said, “President Buhari’s urgent annihilation or disambiguation of stinking aladdin cave of corruption at Local Governments, as a watershed in local government administration, cannot be later, but now,  in order to  further enrich his cap with more feathers, as a no-nonsense and zero-level anti-corruption crusader.

“This he has to tackle by ensuring, through legislative intervention of constitutional amendments, immediate and total autonomy of local governments by  detachment of their umbilical cords from  state governments, through grant of  full autonomy to local governments by, inter alia,

abolition of States and Local Governments  Joint Accounts, which the governors and godfathers subject to corrupt and brazen manipulation and mismanagement, to the detriment of developmental needs of the masses at the local levels; by abolition of appointment of Administrators, Caretaker Committees or Heads of Service, in place of duly elected officials;

by empowerment  of Independent National Election Commission(INEC) to conduct local government elections, in the stead of State Independent Electoral Commission(SIEC), which the governors and godfathers use, as ready sham, simulacra  and spring-boards, for “appointment”,and not election, of  their stooges and puppets into local government positions;

and by ingeniously devising mechanism of insistence  that those, themselves, at this  third tier of government are made accountable to the masses at the grassroots, and not leave the said masses  in the most unfortunate and painful positions of their having jumped  from frying pan into red-hot fire.

In these ways, the a ladden cave of corruption in the management of local government finances, personnel and manpower will be annihilated and made to be a relic of the ugly past, thus not only realizing the laudable objectives and intendments of our constitution-framers, as envisioned in section 7 of the 1999 Constitution(as amended) and sections 1 and 2 (a) to (d) of Fourth Schedule thereof.

In these ways, too, successes registered in relation thereto will serve as an icing on the cake of the government’s war against corruption. However, it remains to be seen how President Buhari will achieve these laudable intention without infringing on the provisions of the Constitution.

In these ways, the aladden cave of corruption in the management of local government finances, personnel and manpower  will be annihilated and made to be a relic  of the ugly past, thus not only realising  the laudable objectives and intendments of our constitution -framers,

,as envisioned in section 7 of the 1999 Constitution(as amended) and sections 1 and 2 (a) to (d) of Fourth Schedule thereof. In these ways, too, successes registered in relation thereto will serve as an icing on the cake of the government’s war against corruption.