The chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria, ALGON, Odunayo Alegbere, has explained the cause for delays in direct disbursement of allocations to local government councils.
Mr Alegbere attributed delays to bureaucratic bottlenecks.
He said LGAs have been instructed to open accounts with the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, to facilitate the implementation of the Supreme Court judgement.
He said direct allocation would help eliminate poverty at the grassroots by granting local governments greater control over their finances and projects.
Mr Alegbere acknowledged that while the journey towards full financial autonomy is not yet complete, steady progress is being made.
“If you look at the grassroots level, the level of abject poverty is alarming. But with this new arrangement, we are confident that we will eradicate and stamp out poverty,” he said.
He also criticised the current system where state governments conduct local government elections, arguing that it often results in selections rather than genuine democratic processes.
However, he assured that ongoing constitutional amendments by the National Assembly would soon address this issue.
“We are happy with the president, and though we have not yet reached our goal, we are making steady progress,” he stated.
Mr Alegbere also advocated for removing the State Independent Electoral Commission,SIEC, from the constitution and replacing it with a national body to oversee local government elections, ensuring a fairer process.
Mr Alegbere linked Nigeria’s growing insecurity to the failure of the local government system.
He argued that restoring local governments’ autonomy and involving traditional institutions in governance would significantly enhance security efforts.
“Unless and until we revisit the older system, addressing insecurity will remain a challenge,” he stressed.
He urged the government to integrate traditional rulers into the local government framework to strengthen grassroots security.
