Stop Funding Councils Without Elected Officials, Says Rep Kuye (View-Details)

Stop Funding Councils Without Elected Officials, Says Rep Kuye (View-Details)

The member representing Somolu Federal Constituency, Ademorin Kuye, has called on the House of Representatives to mandate Revenue Mobilization, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) to stop sending allocation to local council areas without elected leaders.

Ademorin Kuye said democracy is being killed at the local government level by state governors who prefer to dissolve elected leaders and appoint caretaker chairmen.

He told the house that about 21 states have no elected representatives in their local governments.

The All Progressives Congress (APC), Somolu Rep said this on Tuesday as he moved a motion of urgent public importance during plenary.

Kuye said the activities of the state governors were contrary to section 7 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (1999) as amended.

He recalled to the House of Representatives that the Senate in 2023 passed a resolution against the practice. He also added that the Supreme Court had ruled against caretaker chairmen for local governments.

“In December 2023, the Senate passed a resolution to stop allocation to some states after debate on a motion sponsored by the Senate Minority Leader Senator Abba Moro on the urgent need to halt the erosion of democracy in local governments.

“Many Senators also urged the government to sanction other states that have disrupted the democratic system in the local governments and installed unelected caretaker committees.

The dissolution of democratically elected councils is in direct contravention of section 7 of the Nigerian Constitution, the Supreme Court pronouncements on such matters, and a deliberate affront on democracy,” Kuye said.

While calling on the House to direct RMAFC to halt all allocations to local government areas without elected representatives, Kuye accused state governors that appointed caretakers to run local governments of thwarting development potentials on the council areas and Nigeria.

“The number of states acting with impunity and in utter disregard to the constitution continues to increase as not less than 21 state governors are currently running local government councils with caretaker committees

“This impunity and disregard to the constitution is a deliberate effort to upstage democracy, frustrate accountability and transparency in the local government and also thwart their development potentials,” The Nation quoted.