Why we are against LG autonomy —Govs Forum

Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NSF), Mr Rotimi Amaechi said at the weekend that Nigerian governors are opposed to local government autonomy because they believe that councils should not be designated as federating units.

Governor Amaechi, who made the position known while fielding questions from newsmen said that governments all over the world maintain two tiers of governance.

He insisted that the Governors’ Forum as a pressure group will continue to push its opposition to local government autonomy through the ongoing constitution amendment exercise.

When asked why the governors were opposed to local government autonomy, he said: “Of course yes,  let a state governor or let the states create as many local governments as they want to create.

“Don’t put it there as a constitutional issue. Okay, you say for instance, you are accusing some governors of mismanaging resources, how? I have given example in Rivers state where not only do they collect their money directly, they collect my two billion monthly. Ask them. I pay the salaries of all their teachers and that is two billion per month, if you take away that one, my wage bill will come down to six billion per month.”

The governor further said: “The governors are a pressure group, if we succeed in putting the pressure on both National and State Assemblies and say look there are two tiers of governance.

“There is no country in the world where there are three federating units, there are only two all over the world. Why should you say that there must be third federating units in Nigeria.”

He also denied insinuations that governors were frustrating the ongoing constitution amendment exercise, saying that the governors are cooperating with the National Assembly on the amendment exercise. Trubune