House of Reps Plan To Scrap LGs As Constitutionally Recognized Govt

A draft law to abolish local government as a constitutionally recognized and financed level of government in Nigeria is under review by the House of Representatives.

Co-chaired by Mr. Solomon Bob (PDP, Rivers), the bill was read the first time on November 24 and is expected to be read the second time in the near future.

According to its explanatory brief, “The bill seeks to eliminate local government as a level of government in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and invest their creation, powers and financing solely in the State Houses of Assembly in accordance with the principle and practice of true federalism in a culturally diverse and territorially extensive country like Nigeria.”,  EKO HOT BLOG gathered.

When contacted, Bob said, “The bill will address the many centripetal anomalies of the 1999 Constitution.”

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He stated that the federal constitution expresses the division of power only between two levels of government— in other words, federated states and central government.”

The House of Representatives member added that local government “are normally federation babies who are free to create as much as they can finance, according to their development objectives or needs, and they are not and should not be subject to federal law.”

He also said that a federal constitution creating and enumerating local governments “makes it look like nothing new can be created realistically for obvious reasons, whilst denying the flexibility required to drive development and performance at that level.”