The Senator representing Kano South Senatorial District, Abdurahman Kawu Sumaila, has issued a stern warning to state governors obstructing the full implementation of local government autonomy in Nigeria, urging them to desist before it is too late.
Speaking in Kano on Saturday during the North-West Zonal Public Hearing of the Senate Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution, Senator Sumaila described state governors as the primary hindrance to the long-standing quest for the independence of the third tier of government.
He expressed deep concern over what he called the governors’ persistent grip on local councils, accusing them of withholding constitutionally allocated funds and reducing local government administrations to mere appendages of state governments.
“State governors are bent on keeping the councils under their control by withholding their allocations and reducing them to beggars. This must stop,” he declared.
Senator Sumaila commended President Bola Tinubu for backing the cause of local government autonomy, noting that the President not only supported the bill he personally sponsored but also escalated the matter to the Supreme Court to secure a landmark judgment in favour of Nigeria’s 774 local government areas.
“I must commend President Bola Tinubu for not only accepting the bill I sponsored on local government autonomy, but also for taking the matter to the Supreme Court to secure a definitive judgment in favour of the 774 local government areas,” Sumaila said.
He called on the National Assembly and other stakeholders to resist all attempts by state governors to undermine local government independence, emphasizing the need for a united front to protect democratic governance at the grassroots level.
“We cannot allow the blockage of local government autonomy by state actors. We must fight using all available legal and constitutional means to make it happen,” he added.
Senator Sumaila, who was accompanied by leaders of the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE), presented a draft bill to the Senate Constitution Review Committee. He also applauded the committee, chaired by Deputy Senate President Barau Jibrin, for organizing the public hearing in Kano.
He concluded by reaffirming his commitment to ensuring the constitutional freedom of local governments, describing the struggle as a necessary step toward strengthening democracy and delivering good governance to the people.
