Autonomy: Why Revenue From Federation Account Should Only Be Shared Between FG and States

• Misbau Lateef, a public commentator and law lecturer, has reacted to the recent rejection of the bill seeking autonomy for local governments in Nigeria
• According to the legal icon, the federal government has nothing to do with the local government and the council affairs remain a matter in the hands of the states
• Lateef posited that the issue of autonomy for the local governments should be the decision of states to decide based on size, resources and other factors

Misbau Lateef, a legal icon and law lecturer, has commented on the recent call for local government autonomy in Nigeria.

The law lecturer posited that the revenue that is being generated into the federation account should only be shared between the states and the federal government.

Some Nigerians have recently been calling for autonomy for the local governments in Nigeria, over the need for the federating units to receive their allocations from the federal government.

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The national assembly recently made a move through the constitutional amendment process and sent the legislation of administrative and financial autonomy for local governments to the 36 states of houses of assembly.

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The legislation was rejected by the 36 states' houses of assembly and one could wonder why this could happen in a state where everyone is shouting for restructuring.

But Lateef in his reaction said:

"Going by the core principles of federalism, which envisages a division of powers between a central or federal government on one hand and the federating units on the other, I think the states are perfectly in order.

"Let the decision of how many LGs to have or whether or not to have any at all be a decision for each state to make based on size, resources, needs, and history.

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"The FGN should have no business whatsoever with the LGs. In fact, revenue from the federation account should be shared only between the states and the FGN."

LG Autonomy: Prominent Lawyer Reveals Meagre Amount Oyo Councils Must Not Exceed Per Day

Legit.ng earlier reported that Wale Adeagbo, an Ibadan-born lawyer, has disclosed that local governments in Oyo state cannot spend more than N500,000 in a day.

While speaking with legit.ng on the need for local government autonomy, the legal practitioner lamented that the councils in the state cannot execute emergency projects beyond N500,000.

Adeagbo added that local governments in the state may have to pass through some bureaucracy at the governor's office before they could spend more than N500,000 in a day.

Source: Legit.ng