Delegates to the national conference on Monday resumed plenary, focusing on local government autonomy as the debate on President Goodluck Jonathan’s inaugural speech continues.
Most delegates who spoke favoured autonomy for the third tier of government, stressing the need to free the local councils from the control of the State Governors.
A delegate representing the interest of the forum of former local government chairmen, Nasiru Ibrahim Junji, said this is the right time to give the LGAs the much deserved autonomy.
A former council chairman in Kebbi state, Junji was of the view that the rising wave of insecurity across the country was as a result of the declining influence of local councils.
He therefore, stressed the need for the LGAs to collaborate with the traditional rulers in their domain, saying this can only be achieved if the councils are truly autonomous.
Also supporting the idea of autonomous councils, a delegate representing the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) delegate, Ibrahim Khaleel, spoke on the need to empower the local councils.
He said further that the best way to address the myriad of problems facing the country is to empower and allow local councils to work, urging other delegates to treat the issue with seriousness it deserved.
On his part, General Zamani Lekwot, a representative of the Retired Army, Navy and Air Force Officers (RANAO) Association of Nigeria said that complete independence should be granted local government councils to free them from the tutelage of state governors.
Lekwot who urged delegates to bury their prejudices and idiosyncrasies, said the conference has a duty to revisit the issue of state and local government creation to bring government nearer to the people.
General A. B. Mamman, a Federal Capital Territory (FCT) delegate on his part enjoined his colleagues to resist the temptation of asking for extra time so as not to confirm the fear that the conference is set up to achieve a hidden agenda.
