Hon. Dayo Saka Fafunmi is a two-time member of the Lagos State House of Assembly representing Ifako-Ijaiye Constituency 1.
In this interview with our correspondent, the Chairman of Committee on Public Account for Local Government talks about why Nigeria does not need independent candidates for elections, the political challenges in the country and the present situation of local government councils in Lagos state.
How would you describe the vacuum created in the local government areas in Lagos State after the end of the tenure of council chairmen and councillors?
To me, there is no vacuum at the local government councils as some people are in charge; the heads of the councils are in charge. At the end of the tenure of the local government chairmen, they were told to hand over to the most senior persons in the local governments, which are the council managers pending when substantive executive secretaries are appointed or we conduct elections.
What we are seeing at the local governments is not new since the intendment of the state government is to ensure free and fair elections.
The Independent and National Electoral Commission (INEC) has not been able to produce an updated register. Until the Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC) gets that, there cannot be any credible election in the councils.
In addition to that, we do not want to disenfranchise people who were 15 years in 2011 and are now 18 years old. If we use the old registers, it would deprive a lot of people from voting, and it is their constitutional rights to vote for who they want.
So, we decided to wait until INEC is able to update their voters’ register and LASIEC will ultimately conduct elections into the local councils in the state.
In the past, the councils immediately got executive secretaries once the chairmen are leaving. Why is it that it is not so now?
The council managers are now acting as the head of the councils. The constitution of Nigeria does not give room for executive secretaries, but the same constitution permits the State House of Assembly, pursuant to Section 7, to make laws for the local governments and if you look at it, the local government laws recognises the executive chairmen as the head of the councils.
If at the end of the tenure of the chairmen, we need to make another law to have executive secretaries or whatever the case may be, the House of Assembly would do so. The Assembly has taken a step on this, the first reading has been done and second reading would come up subsequently and the law would be passed.
You cannot appoint executive secretary or anybody without an enabling law, but the law that we have currently talks about a chairman that is democratically elected.
In what areas do you think the councils need to improve?
They should ensure that revenue wastages are blocked; the state government should equally give them necessary support to make them do better.
The Senate recently submitted that the local governments should be autonomous. What is your opinion on this?
The only way local governments can have autonomy would be through the amendment of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria. The constitution now, as amended, does not give autonomy to the local government by virtue of Section 7 and by virtue of the proviso attached to their functions. If there is going to be an amendment to the constitution, it requires 2/3 of the State Houses of Assembly.
If the Senate and the Federal House of Representatives have supported it, the amendment would still be subjected to the ratification of the State Houses of Assembly. What would happen to them if the Federal Government is monitoring them directly?
The autonomy the local governments are craving for is not something visible considering the political situation of the country now.
The process of nation building in Nigeria might not be able to accommodate such now. With the autonomy, there would not be any joint account of the state and the local governments. The implication is that if I am a substantive local government and the LCDA is like an administrative arm, if the LCDA is being controlled by someone from the opposition party, what would become of it.
They probably would not want to do anything for them even if it is being controlled by a member of your party. It has a lot of implications. We are not ready to accommodate local government autonomy in Nigeria now.
If the local governments have autonomy, it means it is only the laws of the National Assembly that would be applicable to them; they would be controlling the local governments from Abuja which negates the principles of federalism.
In the United States of America, a council is like about two, three or four councils in Nigeria, and they are being controlled by mayors, who have more responsibilities. They operate with the Governors, if the autonomy is granted, it would mean Section 7 of the constitution has to go, and they would revert to the National Assembly. The section gives powers to the states to make laws for the local governments; it has a lot of implications for the country.
Do you think the LCDA have functioned well since their creation?
I must say that there has been much improvement in the LCDAs and Local Governments in Lagos State and in some South-western states.
What we did in the Lagos State is to break the councils into small components and see how we could accelerate developments, which would ultimately translate to growth across the state. If we are still operating with 20 local governments in the state, we would not be where we are today.
They would have concentrated development around one area, around the centre, which is the local government secretariat within that metropolis. But now, because we have broken them into smaller units, you can see the level of developments in the entire state. We have not reached the destination, but we are getting closer to it.
We also have the issue of independent candidates, which the Senate has approved. What is your take on this?
This also requires an amendment to the constitution; the 1999 Constitution clearly stipulates that before you occupy an elected position, you must be sponsored by a political party.
If the issue of independent candidate comes up, it will more or less open up our politics. Even in the United States of America, the issue came up once, when a candidate contested for the presidency in the country.
Even though it would take a lot from an independent candidate to win election in Nigeria, it would keep elected officers on their toes to deliver quality services to their people. However, for me, it might not see the light of the day eventually.
Why did you say so?
Yes, do you think an independent candidate can win election by having so much money? You do so by coming through a party. It is just going to be an effort in futility. We have not developed to the stage where an independent candidate can win election in Nigeria.
In this interview with our correspondent, the Chairman of Committee on Public Account for Local Government talks about why Nigeria does not need independent candidates for elections, the political challenges in the country and the present situation of local government councils in Lagos state.
How would you describe the vacuum created in the local government areas in Lagos State after the end of the tenure of council chairmen and councillors?
To me, there is no vacuum at the local government councils as some people are in charge; the heads of the councils are in charge. At the end of the tenure of the local government chairmen, they were told to hand over to the most senior persons in the local governments, which are the council managers pending when substantive executive secretaries are appointed or we conduct elections.
What we are seeing at the local governments is not new since the intendment of the state government is to ensure free and fair elections.
The Independent and National Electoral Commission (INEC) has not been able to produce an updated register. Until the Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC) gets that, there cannot be any credible election in the councils.
In addition to that, we do not want to disenfranchise people who were 15 years in 2011 and are now 18 years old. If we use the old registers, it would deprive a lot of people from voting, and it is their constitutional rights to vote for who they want.
So, we decided to wait until INEC is able to update their voters’ register and LASIEC will ultimately conduct elections into the local councils in the state.
In the past, the councils immediately got executive secretaries once the chairmen are leaving. Why is it that it is not so now?
The council managers are now acting as the head of the councils. The constitution of Nigeria does not give room for executive secretaries, but the same constitution permits the State House of Assembly, pursuant to Section 7, to make laws for the local governments and if you look at it, the local government laws recognises the executive chairmen as the head of the councils.
If at the end of the tenure of the chairmen, we need to make another law to have executive secretaries or whatever the case may be, the House of Assembly would do so. The Assembly has taken a step on this, the first reading has been done and second reading would come up subsequently and the law would be passed.
You cannot appoint executive secretary or anybody without an enabling law, but the law that we have currently talks about a chairman that is democratically elected.
In what areas do you think the councils need to improve?
They should ensure that revenue wastages are blocked; the state government should equally give them necessary support to make them do better.
The Senate recently submitted that the local governments should be autonomous. What is your opinion on this?
The only way local governments can have autonomy would be through the amendment of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria. The constitution now, as amended, does not give autonomy to the local government by virtue of Section 7 and by virtue of the proviso attached to their functions. If there is going to be an amendment to the constitution, it requires 2/3 of the State Houses of Assembly.
If the Senate and the Federal House of Representatives have supported it, the amendment would still be subjected to the ratification of the State Houses of Assembly. What would happen to them if the Federal Government is monitoring them directly?
The autonomy the local governments are craving for is not something visible considering the political situation of the country now.
The process of nation building in Nigeria might not be able to accommodate such now. With the autonomy, there would not be any joint account of the state and the local governments. The implication is that if I am a substantive local government and the LCDA is like an administrative arm, if the LCDA is being controlled by someone from the opposition party, what would become of it.
They probably would not want to do anything for them even if it is being controlled by a member of your party. It has a lot of implications. We are not ready to accommodate local government autonomy in Nigeria now.
If the local governments have autonomy, it means it is only the laws of the National Assembly that would be applicable to them; they would be controlling the local governments from Abuja which negates the principles of federalism.
In the United States of America, a council is like about two, three or four councils in Nigeria, and they are being controlled by mayors, who have more responsibilities. They operate with the Governors, if the autonomy is granted, it would mean Section 7 of the constitution has to go, and they would revert to the National Assembly. The section gives powers to the states to make laws for the local governments; it has a lot of implications for the country.
Do you think the LCDA have functioned well since their creation?
I must say that there has been much improvement in the LCDAs and Local Governments in Lagos State and in some South-western states.
What we did in the Lagos State is to break the councils into small components and see how we could accelerate developments, which would ultimately translate to growth across the state. If we are still operating with 20 local governments in the state, we would not be where we are today.
They would have concentrated development around one area, around the centre, which is the local government secretariat within that metropolis. But now, because we have broken them into smaller units, you can see the level of developments in the entire state. We have not reached the destination, but we are getting closer to it.
We also have the issue of independent candidates, which the Senate has approved. What is your take on this?
This also requires an amendment to the constitution; the 1999 Constitution clearly stipulates that before you occupy an elected position, you must be sponsored by a political party.
If the issue of independent candidate comes up, it will more or less open up our politics. Even in the United States of America, the issue came up once, when a candidate contested for the presidency in the country.
Even though it would take a lot from an independent candidate to win election in Nigeria, it would keep elected officers on their toes to deliver quality services to their people. However, for me, it might not see the light of the day eventually.
Why did you say so?
Yes, do you think an independent candidate can win election by having so much money? You do so by coming through a party. It is just going to be an effort in futility. We have not developed to the stage where an independent candidate can win election in Nigeria.
No comments:
Post a Comment