The House of Representatives has asked the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) to halt all statutory allocations to local governments run by unelected officials appointed by governors.
This resolution followed a motion of urgent public importance moved by Ademorin Kuye (APC, Lagos) on Tuesday during plenary.
In the motion, Mr Kuye stated that 21 states in the country are operating caretaker committees instead of elected local government officials as envisaged by Section 7 of the 1999 Constitution.
The lawmaker described this as an affront against democracy and the rule of law.
“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.
“The number of states acting with impunity and in utter disregard of the constitution continues to increase, as not less than 21 state governors are currently running local government councils with caretaker committees,” he said.
The legislator noted that local government is very vital to the sustainability of democracy as they are the closest to the people.
“The local government, as envisaged by the constitution, is the most important tier of government as it is the closest to the people and forms the foundation of both the state and federal governments,” he said.
Mr Kuye disclosed that the motion is consistent with the recent stance of the Senate on the same issue, adding that “this impunity and disregard of the constitution is a deliberate effort to upstage democracy, frustrate accountability and transparency in the local government, and also thwart their development potential.
“In December 2023, the Senate passed a resolution to stop allocation to some states after a 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,” Mr Kuye said.
Consequently, the House resolved that the Committees on State and Local Government Affairs and Finance should work with the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) to withhold allocations to local governments run by unelected officials.
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It also urged the RMAFC to create a special account into which allocations due to local governments run by unelected officials will be paid until elected representatives are put in place by such state governments.
Additionally, the lower chamber asked the attorney-general of the federation to institute legal action against any state that terminates the unexpired tenure of local government officials.
