Andrew Agbese
9 July 2009
interview
Jos — What problems do Local Governments face in terms of administration in their dealings with the state government?
When our elections were conducted, crude came down to below 40 dollars per barrel. This presented a huge challenge to us in the sense that we came in at a time when price of petroleum kept coming down. This is in addition to the general global economic meltdown which has affected governments around the world, including Nigeria.
But then, our hope that the Plateau State governor would redeem the pledge that all the monies collected as excesses during the rise in the price of crude and which have been saved would be released to us has not materialised.
According to the governor, at the time the money was coming in, there were no elected representatives at the local government level, and I believe he was quite right because the only leadership that is recognised in a democracy is that which is elected by the people. We were hopeful that as soon as we come in, these monies would be made available to us to implement developmental projects. But the first sign of a problem was when we learnt that we would not be allowed to make political appointments at the local governments.
We heard again that the governor's allies were insisting that the monies the governor promised to release to us should not be made available to us, for whatever reason. Local governments are under the supervision of the states but they are also recognized as a level of government to the extent that they have both legislative and executive arm, and also in the revenue distribution from the federal account. Allocation from the federation account goes to the federal level, state and local government having been recognised by the constitution as distinct levels of government.
So the fact that local government funds pass through the state before reaching the councils does not make local government funds that of the state. It is just for the purpose of supervision.
But if people within government think it is an opportunity for the state government to withhold such funds, then it's a pity and I think that is a big mistake. The governor had promised us several times that the monies are going to be given to us but we also know that those that don't want to see that happen, are working very hard to ensure that it doesn't happen.
In fact we just received a paper from the ministry of local government and chieftaincy affairs, saying that we should give names of five schools that are to be rehabilitated in each local government. The issue is that if the local government collects its money, it can carry out projects on its own. The law allows it to enter any contract. If that is the case, then why should we be asked to send lists of projects to the ministry of local government and chieftaincy affairs?
Do you know how much is due to your local government within the period that the excess crude allocation was made?
I have not been able to establish that of my local government but I don't think there's any local government that has less than N300, 000.00 million to collect from the state government.
Apart from the excess crude funds withheld by the state government, are there other deductions made from your statutory allocations?
There are statutory deductions recognized by the local government laws. The include one percent administrative charges to the ministry of local government and chieftaincy affairs, one per cent training fund for local government service commission, fifteen percent to local government service, fifteen percent to universal basic education for payment of salaries.
Then, there are other deductions, for instance, assistance to the state for both Christian and Muslim pilgrims' welfare board. This one is not a statutory deduction.
There's five percent deduction for traditional council, this one is statutory, and it is in the local government law.
The other deductions are for environmental sanitation. When we came on, board we met this one going on and I think on more than four occasions, the local government chairmen unanimously decided that the deduction should stop. We also believe that the way this sanitation is organised is not proper; it should be transferred to the local governments for proper monitoring and organisation.
When we came, I think every month N3.5 million was being deducted from local governments, making a total of about N60 million or so from the 17 local governments for the exercise. We tried to even know those involved in the sanitation exercise but it became very difficult.
We were not able to get the list from the coordinators of the scheme because they don't see themselves as being under the chairman. We have to rely on business centre to get the list of those working in our local government.
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