Chieftain of New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) Ambassador Olufemi Ajadi Oguntoyinbo has advocated full autonomy for local government administration in Nigeria.
Ajadi, in a statement, said autonomy for local government would not only strengthen Nigeria’s democracy but also stabilise its existence and enhance better livelihood of the masses.
According to the NNPP Chieftain, there was the need for the National Assembly and the federal government to pass a bill granting local government autonomy.
This, he said, became necessary in view of the fact that local government ” is the closest to the rural dwellers and the only way and means to make those inhabitants enjoy the dividends and goodies of democracy is by giving autonomy to local government.
He stressed that it was undemocratic for the state governments in the country to continue eroding the powers and functions of local government with introduction of caretaker administrative system.
Emphasising that “its introduction in a full democratic setting is an aberration in a democratic system of government operated by the country”, Ambassador Ajadi argued the Federal Republic of Nigeria remained a corporate democratic setting whose administrative system could not be acknowledged as a complete one without autonomy to the government that is the closest to the people at the grassroots levels.
The NNPP governorship candidate in Ogun state during the 2023 elections said many Nigerians were more concerned about the federal and state budgets, not minding that of local government that is very close to them.
