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| Mr. Ayuba Wabba |
The NLC President, Mr. Ayuba Wabba, made the call at a news
conference on Friday in Abuja.
Wabba, who commended the National Assembly for voting in
favour of Local Government autonomy, said that the lawmakers demonstrated
bravery by respecting the wishes of the people in spite of pressures from
vested interests.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the granting
of autonomy to the Local Governments, currently controlled by the state
governments, was among many constitution amendment drafts passed by the
National Assembly recently.
The amendments must, however, go to the 36 State Houses of
Assembly for their concurrence.
The minimum requirement for the amendments to qualify to
become law is the concurrence of at least two-third of the 36 State Houses of
Assembly.
“We want the state lawmakers to concur; we want them to be
on the side of the people.
“We want them to be on the side of history by displaying the
same courage as their colleagues at the National Assembly.
“We similarly call on governors of the 36 states to sheathe
partisan or insular considerations and support these amendments in the national
interest.
“We call on other Nigerians, whose support is invaluable, to
rise and mobilise support and spare no effort toward ensuring that these
amendments become law,” he said.
He said that the amendment, if it became law, would free-up
the local governments from the strangle-hold of state governments.
“This will widen the democratic space and restore the lost
glory of the local governments,” he said.
Wabba said that the autonomy would embolden the local
government system and enable it develop as a third tier of government with the
capacity to discharge its constitutional responsibilities to its constituents.
The NLC president said that the autonomy would also
decentralise power and restore it to ordinary citizen at the grass roots level.
“It will give a voice to the voiceless, especially the
minorities, who have been short-changed at the state and federal levels of
government,” he said.
Wabba commended the 8th National Assembly for making
history, stressing that they shall be remembered for refusing to bow to selfish
interests to stifle the popular wish of Nigerians.
He also commended the Nigeria Union of Teachers, Nigeria
Union of Local Government Employees and the Medical and Health Workers Union of
Nigeria for harmonising their positions to confront their challenges in the
Local Governments.
~NAN
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