A former commissioner for justice and attorney-general in Oyo State, Mutalubi Adebayo Ojo, has faulted Nigerians who are clamouring for local government autonomy saying it simply shows the people do not understand the laws of Nigeria.
He argued that in Nigeria, local government was never designed to function the way many Nigerians want it to.
He added that in federalism, local governments are usually at the mercy of state governments.
The solicitor who is a senior advocate of Nigeria designate stated this while fielding questions on BOTTOM LINE- a popular political programme on IBR 92.5fm Ibadan at the weekend.
According to him, “federal government is the making of state governments. They come together to form a government at the centre. In the same way, state governments are at liberty to form local governments too. That is why Asiwaju Bola Tinubu remains an enigma in this republics because he challenged the status quo as the governor of Lagos State when the administration of Olusegun Obasanjo withheld Lagos State allocation for creating local council development areas (LCDAs).
It was challenged up to Supreme Court and the apex court validated the decision of Lagos but said it must be gazetted to have the full and legal recognition. Today, many states have copied Lagos.
You see, the truth is that state governments are empowered to create local governments as they wish and local governments are answerable to the State. The State is expected to supervise the activities of local governments. So, in federalism, there is nothing like local government autonomy as being clamoured for by many Nigerians. Listing local government areas in the constitution is very wrong.”
