21 states run local govt areas with caretaker committees

No fewer than 21 states in the country are currently without duly elected local government councils.

These states are running the affairs of local government councils with caretaker committees appointed by state governors, an investigation by Sunday PUNCH has revealed.

This is against the provisions of Section 7 of the 1999 Constitution which guarantees the operation of local government by democratically elected officials.

There are 774 local government areas in the country, but the efficiency of the third tier of government has been hampered by the actions of some governors who have been accused of mismanaging funds meant for the administration of local governments.

In the last few months, calls for local government autonomy have increased in Nigeria. President Bola Tinubu has also supported these calls. In May, the Federal Government approached the Supreme Court with a suit seeking to compel governors of the 36 states to grant full autonomy to the local governments in their domains.

Currently, the Federal Government receives 52.68 per cent, states receive 26.72 per cent, and LGs receive 20.60 per cent of the country’s monthly revenue allocated by the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission, which is domiciled under the Presidency, and is disbursed by the Federation Account Allocation Committee.

LG funds are paid into a joint account operated by state governments and local governments in their domains.

A former National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Audu Ogbeh, who was recently interviewed on Channels Television, stated that the Federal Government should discontinue the payment of LG funds to such joint accounts, and move them to accounts solely operated by local government administrations.

“I cannot be sending you money that disappears. You don’t repair primary schools, you don’t do anything. The money vanishes and they say they are paying workers; for which work? Strolling around in the morning and drinking palm wine? These are the issues. Those failures are creating dangerous problems for the country,” he said.

He added that some governors appointed their stooges as caretaker chairmen for local governments, gave them stipends, and diverted large chunks of the money allocated for local government administration to questionable quarters.

On June 28, 2024, the government of Jigawa State dissolved the elected council chairmen of the 27 local governments in the state.

Earlier, the Jigawa State House of Assembly had amended the local government law, extending the time for fresh local council elections by one year and ordering the appointment of caretakers before the election.

Though the government has yet to provide further information regarding the issue, it is believed that based on the amendment by the assembly, the caretaker committee may take up the task.

Recently, the Governor of Rivers State, Siminalayi Fubara, appointed caretaker chairmen to take charge of LG councils in the state following a power tussle between him and the erstwhile governor of the state, Nyesom Wike.

On June 20, 2024, the Governor of Anambra State, Charles Soludo, through the state’s House of Assembly, confirmed the appointment of transition committee chairmen and councillors for the 21 local government areas of the state.

The assembly confirmed the appointment in line with Section 208 of the Local Government Law, 1999 as amended, as requested by Soludo.

The newly-appointed chairmen are Ifeanyi Chiweze (Anambra East), Fidelis Nnazo (Anambra West), Romanus Ibekwe (Anaocha), Chinedu Okafor (Awka South), Alphonsus Ofumele (Ayamelum), Chijioke Ozumba (Dunukofia), and Stanley Nkwoka (Idemili North).

Others are Chinedu Ononiba (Njikoka), Val Ezeogidi (Nnewi South), Franklin Nwadialu (Ogbaru), Anthony Nwaora (Onitsha North), Casimir Nwafor (Orumba North), and Shedrack Azubuike (Orumba South).

The state noted that the local government transition committee chairmen will serve for three months in the first instance.

In Imo State, the last council poll was conducted on August 25, 2018; and was the first LG election in seven years.

In Kwara State, the last council election was in November 2017, and caretaker committees had been in charge since 2020.

In Zamfara, the last grassroots poll was held on April 27, 2019, and the state returned to appointees after the chairmen’s tenures expired. In May 2024, the state assembly approved a six-month extension for the caretaker committee.

In Benue, however, elections are scheduled to be held on July 6, 2024, for LG council chairmen.

Other states affected include Bauchi, Plateau, Abia, Enugu, Katsina, Kano, Sokoto, Yobe, Ondo, Osun, Delta, Akwa-Ibom, and Cross River.

Speaking to our correspondent on the matter, the National President of the National Union of Local Government Employees, Hakeem Ambali, described the constitution of caretaker committees as illegal, adding that it went against the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“Caretaker committees remain illegal. State governments should therefore abide by the rule, especially with total respect to Section Seven, Subsection One of the 1999 Constitution. It further reinforces the correctness of the President Bola Tinubu-administration in taking a bold step in seeking legal intervention against the violation of the constitution with impunity by state political actors,” Ambali added.

Recall that the Attorney General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi, had dragged the 36 states to the Supreme Court over the issue of LG autonomy.

The suit, marked SC/CV/343/2024, was filed by the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), on behalf of the Federal Government.

The Federal Government urged the apex court to issue “an order prohibiting state governors from the unilateral, arbitrary, and unlawful dissolution of democratically elected local government leaders for local governments.”

In the suit predicated on 27 grounds, the Federal Government accused the governors of gross misconduct and abuse of power.

The FG, in the originating summons, prayed the Supreme Court to make an order expressly stating that funds meant for local governments from the Federation Account should be paid directly to the local governments, rather than through the state governments.

The justice minister also prayed for “an order of injunction restraining the governors, their agents, and privies from receiving, spending, or tampering with funds released from the Federation Account for the benefit of local governments when no democratically elected local government system is in place in the states.”

The Federal Government further sought “an order stopping governors from constituting caretaker committees to run the affairs of local governments as against the constitutionally recognised and guaranteed democratic system.”

Allow LGs enjoy full autonomy, ALGON tells states

In an interview with Sunday PUNCH, the Director-General of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria, Itiako Ikpokpo, called for financial and administrative autonomy for local governments.

He said, “There are fundamental issues with the structures of local government across Nigeria, and most of them are constitutional issues. Our national president has said that there are fundamental issues to be dealt with.

“One of the issues is the financial and administrative autonomy of local government. When we talk about financial autonomy, it means strictly sending money directly to local governments across the country. Administrative autonomy is about handing over the structure of the local governments to the LG chairmen, just the way it is in the states and at the federal level, where the governors and the president respectively are in charge. It is not right for state governments to be running the affairs of the local government just as it is not right for the federal government to run the affairs of the states.

“So, you find a situation where the Local Government Service Commission, which is in charge of the promotion of workers, has directly taken over that function. We have the issue of uniformity of tenure. If four years is good enough for the president and state governments, why would four years not be good enough for the council chairmen? What makes them lesser when they have been described as a part of government in the Constitution? So, there are a lot of fundamental issues.”

Ikpokpo, however, noted that some governors were allowing local governments to run without interference.

“There are some governors that are actually doing well. Some of them are not taking local government money, and they are conducting elections when due. So, you must separate them from those who have continuously kept us in the situation that we are in, because the issue is not just about the caretaker committees.

“Whether they are caretaker chairmen or elected chairmen, are they allowed to operate without interference?” he asked.

The ALGON DG also urged the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit to do its job by tracking LG funds, noting that Nigeria will only move forward when the local government system is allowed to work.

“If the local government system works, Nigeria will work,” he said.

Governors should stop crippling LGs — SAN

Also speaking with Sunday PUNCH, a human rights lawyer, Afam Osigwe (SAN), condemned the “unbearable influence” of governors on local government, accusing them of crippling local government administration in the country by preventing the third tier of government from performing its functions.

Osigwe said it was illegal and undemocratic for governors to appoint caretaker committees to administer the affairs of local governments. He stressed that the constitution should be amended to allow local governments control funds made available to them, adding that the joint account with states should be stopped.

He said, “There is a Supreme Court decision on that. Section Seven of the Constitution guarantees a democratic system of local government, so being democratic means the leadership of local governments must evolve through elections, not by appointment. Governors do not have the power to appoint caretaker committees to run the affairs of local governments.

“The governors’ unbearable influence on local government should be stopped, and a law should be put in place to ensure that any governor that fails to conduct local government elections to put in place democratically elected officials should not be allowed access to funds meant for local governments. That way, the states will conduct the elections.

“The states have taken over local governments, and they use them for political patronage. They also use money meant for local governments for things that are not constitutionally approved.

“So, I support the move by the Federal Government that states that do not conduct local government elections should not be allowed access to funds meant for local governments. That is the only way we can secure the independence and autonomy of local governments.”

Caretaker committees for LGs violate constitution — Lawyer

Also speaking with our correspondent, a legal practitioner, Tosin Ojaomo, lampooned the appointment of caretaker committee chairmen to oversee local governments, labelling it a blatant violation of the constitution by state governors.

Ojaomo noted that the constitution stipulates that local governments must be led by elected officials following democratic processes.

He said, “There is nowhere in the Nigerian constitution that governors are given power to choose caretakers for local governments. The law is that local governments should be democratically managed in Nigeria.

“What these governors are doing is unconstitutional. It is pure illegality. The constitution is very clear. It states that local government  leaders should emerge through democratic means. This indicates that elections must be conducted, and winners must emerge after an election is conducted. The problem we are having is also constitutional.”

Ojaomo added that a fundamental reason states continued to flex muscles over local governments and deny them their constitutionally guaranteed administrative autonomy was because of joint state and local government accounts.

He stressed that allocations coming to the local government should not go to the state.

He called for strict adherence to constitutional provisions and legal precedents in the governance of local governments, emphasising the need to safeguard democratic principles and prevent undue influence from state authorities.

He said, “There is no provision for caretaker committees in the Constitution. It must be an elected government at the local government level. There are so many pronouncements by the Supreme Court that local government caretaker committees are illegal. The way to enforce the law is to ensure that local government chairmen should not be at the mercy and control of state governors.

“The Independent National Electoral Commission should also conduct local government elections in Nigeria. If elections of House of Assembly members are being conducted by the INEC, it should also conduct elections for local government chairmen. With that, there will be a level playing field. Most governors choose to appoint their cronies to be members of the state electoral commissions, and that is the only part they are aware of in installing their stooges at the local government level.”

Speaking on the matter, another legal practitioner, Eze Oyekpere, condemned the actions of governors appointing caretaker committee chairmen for local governments, stressing that their handling of local government funds was illegal.

 Oyekpere stressed that the governors, without rightful authority, appropriated funds meant for local governments, an act he categorically described as stealing.

He stated, “If I take your money and keep it without the intention of giving it back to you, and it’s without your consent, or simply because I think I can beat you, what is it? That is stealing. What they are doing is stealing.

“The money does not belong to them. They are not supposed to know anything. They collect it and keep it back without the consent of the donors. So what they are doing is stealing. Simple.”

• Additional reports by Olufemi Adediran and Mohammed Lawal