A local government administrator, Dr. Isa Mohammed Idris, has condemned a recent newspaper and online report which criticised former Governor Nasir el-Rufai’s handling of local government affairs, noting that the report targetted at blackmailing and rubbishing his local government reforms.
Dr. Idris of Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Zaria, in an interview in Kaduna on Sunday, said it is on record that no government in Kaduna state, since the return of democracy in 1999, had performed better in the administration of local government than the government of Malam Nasir el-Rufai in the 23 local government councils of the state, in the area of discipline and supervision under the period, which accounted significantly for the transformation of the grassroots in the state.
The el-Rufai administration prioritised welfare of staff of local government and reforms to enable the local government become a true catalyst of grassroots development and restore people’s trust in the system of local government to deliver a great feat lauded by both national and international organisations.
“The publications by a newspaper and social media was a consolidated attack by a number of mischief makers, aimed at rubbishing former governor el-Rufai, who, lately, has been a target of carefully orchestrated political vendetta within and outside government circles.
“Sadly, the present leadership of the state was alleged to have started interfering in the financial independence of local government, through return of joint projects. My reaction to the falsehood was not to defend the former governor, but to correct the misinformation maliciously peddled by some people to hoodwink gullible people.
“As a student of local government administration, and a proponent of separation of power among the three tiers of government, there is no state government that restored the lost relevance of local government system in Nigeria, than the government of Malam el-Rufai in Kaduna state.”
