With the recent Supreme Court judgment on local government autonomy, stakeholders have identified dearth of competent personnel that can drive development agenda at the lowest level of government.
The stakeholders who made this observation at a policy dialogue on Enthroning Accountability in Local Governance in Nigeria organised by Agora Policy in partnership with Yaga Africa, MacArthur Foundation, Budgit, Premium Times and the Cable in Abuja yesterday, said except competent hands are put in place, funds channeled to the LGAs may end up in private pockets.
The participants at the policy dialogue said most of the people elected into office as either chairmen or counsellors do not understand what they are called to do.
They also noted that this is the time for citizens to begin to ask their leaders at the local government level questions, if accountability is to be ensured.
In his remarks, National President of Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON), Aminu Maifata, acknowledged that capacity gap is a major challenge at the local government level, saying ALGON is working with some civil society organisations to build the capacity of the leadership at the local government level.
He said when it comes to accountability, state governments are expected to put in place some framework to check activities of their local government areas.
“On our part, ALGON is trying to put in place some framework for accountability at the local government levels.
“But most importantly, we need to organise credible elections at the local government levels. That is the starting point.”
In his own remarks, a former minister of youths and sports, Bolaji Abdullahi, said without the right people in place, the autonomy granted the local governments will end up creating more problems for the country.
Director-General National Orientation Agency (NOA), Lanre-Issa Onilu in his goodwill message, commended Agora Policy and its partners for creating a platform for the conversation on accountability at the local government level to hold.
He said this is the time to make the local government areas more responsible and responsive to the needs of their areas.
According to him, “we need to make them go back to what they used to be – taking charge of security, agriculture, environment, primary healthcare and so on.
“At NOA, we have started working with some stategovernments to promote accountability and transparency in the local government areas. We are also working with the ICPC and we are ready to work with civil society organisations to promote value reorientation.”
The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Olanipekun Olukoyede who was represented by Mr. Friday Bello, said good governance revolves around accountability and transparency. He said it is no longer going to be business as usual. “We are must scrutinise their activities to ensure our people get the benefits of good governance,” he said.
Earlier in his welcome address, Executive Director of Agora Policy, Waziri Adio, said despite the enormous responsibility placed on the local government areas, it is the least trusted, least interested in and least capacitated.
He said that the Afrobarometer survey conducted in 2008 on confidence/trust in local government officials showed that the trust level dropped from 58 per cent in 2000 to 28 per cent in 2008.
He called on political elite to consider going back to contest for chairmanship and counsellorship of their local government areas.