Contrary to rumours making the rounds, the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE), at the weekend stated that local government autonomy has not been rejected by states Houses of Assembly in the on-going Constitution amendment process.
Rather, the union said the bill on local government autonomy was still under consideration by 26 Houses of Assembly across the country, as only 10 Assemblies have so far considered the bill and passed it to the chairman of Conference of Speakers of States Houses of Assembly for transmission to the National Assembly.
President of NULGE, Comrade Ibrahim Khaleel, gave this explanation to dispel speculations that the states’ Houses of Assembly might have rejected local government autonomy, based on the transmission of some bills that have already been considered by the state assemblies to the National Assembly last Thursday.
He explained that the National Assembly sent 15 different bills to the states’ Houses, of which Local Government Autonomy Bill, was one.
Among the 36 states, however, only 10 states have considered, by Thursday, the bill on Local Government Autonomy and forwarded it to the chairman of te Conference of Speakers, which was part of what it transmitted to the National Assembly on Thursday.
Among the 10 states that have considered it, eight states, Kwara, Benue, Niger, Plateau, Bauchi, Cross River, Bayelsa and Ogun states, voted for local government autonomy while two states, Edo and Imo, voted against it.
Khaleel, who said he had sought clarification from the chairman of the Conference of Speakers and senior officials of the National Assembly, pointed out that Rivers and Lagos states have not even worked on the Local Government Autonomy Bill, while the remaining 24, who joined the other 10 states to transmit it to the National Assembly, said they have stepped the bill down for further consultation.
“So, 24 state houses of assembly are still working on it, many of them are already holding public hearing on it. That is what is going on.
“For example, Sokoto State just conducted public hearing on the bill between Tuesday and Thursday this week. Gombe has just called for memorandum from its citizens on the Local Government Autonomy Bill. Others also deffered it to hold public hearing and further discussions before they vote and forward it to the Conference of Speakers.
“It is just that only eight so far have voted for it among 10 states who have fully considered it. It is possible that we will still get the remaining 16 states, out of the remaining states that have not voted on Local Government Autonomy Bill. So, we can’t say local government autonomy has been rejected. It is still work in progress,” the NULGE president said.