LG autonomy: Nigeria must strengthen accountability mechanisms, otherwise… – Prof. Dakas
PanNigerianNews
2 min read
A former Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice in Plateau State, Professor Dakas C. J. Dakas, has urged the Federal Government to not only focus on the autonomy of the local government but also begin to strategise on strengthening accountability mechanisms for the much anticipated autonomy to benefit the people at the grassroots.
Prof. Dakas, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria and immediate past Governing Council Chairman of Federal Polytechnic Ayede, located in Oyo State, noted that administrative or financial autonomy of the third tier of government might only end in the same corruption.
Dakas stated this while featuring on the network service programme of the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) “Good Morning Nigeria” which focused on the local government autonomy, monitored by PANNIGERIANNEWS.COM.
PANNIGERIANNEWS.COM reports that the Federal Government, under President Bola Tinubu, is at the forefront of making the local government autonomy practicable and entrenched in the Nigerian Constitution.
The autonomy at the grassroots has generated heated debates from legal practitioners, civil society organisations, among others.
Dakas, Professor of constitutional law, jurisprudence, diplomatic and consular law as well law of international institutions, said, “I am an apostle of referendum in the context of constitutional amendment and I hope that we will have some opportunity to address the local government in a more profound manner.
“As important as it is to have local government autonomy, whether administrative or financial, one of the things that we must emphasise is that unless we strengthen accountability mechanisms at the local government level…even if you ensure that by reason of financial autonomy, all the resources that are due to the local governments from the federation accounts should go directly to the local governments, if we don’t strengthen accountability mechanisms, we will end up with the same corruption.
“So, it is not enough to engender autonomy, whether administrative or financial, we must, of necessity, make sure that accountability mechanisms at the local government are strengthened so that at the end of the day, whatever funds that are due to the local governments are prudently utilised for the benefit of the vast majority of the people at the grassroots.
“The Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) has begun to do something in that respect. But I am aware that there is some kind of resistance. And so, this is something that needs to be addressed in a very profound way so that at the end of the day, the ultimate beneficiaries of the autonomy at the grassroots will be the people at the grassroots as beneficiaries of the dividend of democracy.”
