Former Attorney General of Plateau State, Barrister Yusufu Pam has asked Nigerians to rise and insist on autonomy being provided for local government councils in the constitution that will emerge from the ongoing amendment process in order to enhance development in the grass roots.
Pam who was the candidate of Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in a Plateau North Senatorial by-election last year said local government councils are currently subservient to state governments and that this is an anomaly requiring a change.
He asked, “How can you expect development in local government areas when state governments arrogate to themselves the control of the resources of local government councils?”
He asked, “How can you expect development in local government areas when state governments arrogate to themselves the control of the resources of local government councils?”
Pam who addressed newsmen in the Plateau State capital, Jos after a meeting with members of his party, asserted, “What is happening now is a corrupt-ridden system in which governors appropriate the resources of local governments, abuse them, and leave local governments in penury, which is not the intention of the constitution.”
He said financial freedom has continued to elude local councils because of the resistance from those benefiting from the status quo.
“It is those who want to plunder and pillage the resources of local governments that are refusing them their autonomy,” he asserted, appealing, “Nigerians should rise in one voice and insist on local government autonomy in the constitutional amendment.”
He contended that in the same way that the Federal Government does not influence state governments’ resources and development, state governments should also not have the influence that they exert today on local governments.
