Anambra Central’s Senator-elect, Senator Uche Ekwunife has described political and financial autonomy of local government councils as vital to the growth of Nigeria’s democracy.
Senator Ekwunife said this on Friday while reacting to the new Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) guidelines designed to among other things ensure financial independence for local government councils.
Describing the new guideline as a welcome development, Ekwunife noted that beyond financial autonomy, local government councils equally deserve political autonomy which will, in real terms ensure that elected officials are put in charge of local governments and are held accountable for funds that accrue to the councils.
“As a member of House of Representatives, I pursued the amendment of sections 7 and 162 of the 1999 constitution to guarantee political and financial independence for local government administration, the Bill was also in the pipeline in the Senate before I left the Red Chambers in 2015”, Ekwunife said.
Speaking further, she said: “the local government is an important arm of government – the closest to the people, and hence should not be subsumed by the State government as we have today in most states.”