By Samuel Ogidan
Abuja
Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) under the leadership of Governor Jonah Jang of Plateau state have kicked against the approval of autonomy for local government by the National Assembly.
National Assembly had on Wednesday approved autonomy for local governments, granting it the full administrative and financial autonomy in the ongoing Constitution amendment.
The Forum, in a statement by its Secretary, Earl Osaro Onaiwu, accused some National Assembly members of using the conference committee to force through an amendment that was clearly rejected by the Senate during the Constitution amendment debates and votes.
It noted that it was improper in an issue of this magnitude for the conference committee to overturn the position of a majority in the upper house.
The Forum described the push for local government autonomy by the National Assembly as “hasty” without first considering the problems of executive recklessness and ineffective administration at the local level.
It warned that the amendment could lead to the hijack of some local government administrative structures by a few powerful individuals without the oversight the state government currently provides.
The Forum, however, expressed confidence that the amendment would be rejected by a majority of the Houses of Assembly.