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House of Representatives commitee chairman on Local Governments, Hon. Tengu Isergba, on LG problems says: States stifle development of local governments
The Chairman of the Committee on State and Local Governments in the House of Representatives, Honorable Terngu Tsegba believes that the arbitrary deduction of statutory allocations to local governments by state governors has contributed in large measure to the under development of the rural areas. He spoke further on the intention of his committee to ensure the judicious and transparent application of funds by the Plateau State Sole Administrator, General Chris Alli, during an interview with BUKOLA OJEME. Excerpts:
The impression in some quarters is that most local governments in Nigeria have become mere outposts or appendages of state governments, rather than a tier of government. How correct is this view?
Let me say that, having come from a local government, and I believe all of us come from local governments, we know that they from the state, and the state makes up the Federation. We are all worried over what is happening at the local government level, particularly on the issue of the finances of local governments.
The operation of joint accounts, and the manner, it is being handled, I think, is what has informed the Federal Government's decision to send to the National Assembly a Bill for the operation of the Local Government Joint Account. That account in itself is not bad, in that the state governments are expected to put 10 percent of their revenues into the Joint Accounts for the benefit of all their local governments.
But this, we have observed, has not been the case. Rather, states deduct money from local government accounts, for the use of the states, rather than the other way round.
And this is what has stifled the operation of local governments. This is what has made most of the local governments incapable of engaging in any meaningful development for their people. And considering that 80 percent of our people live in the rural areas in the local governments, it is the people that are being denied these amenities.
You will discover that states concentrate their own development programmes in the state capitals, and the major towns, leaving out the local government areas. This is what we are trying to correct in the allocation and revenue to local governments, and I think when the National Assembly finally passes this Bill, it will go a long way in improving the finances of the local governments.
What safeguards is your committee considering in ensuring the transparent management of funds by council officials, given the level of corruption among local government functionaries?
Well, talking about corruption, I think it is what has manifested in every facet of life in Nigeria today. And people look at the federal level. It is a bit better because the capacity of the National Assembly members to oversight the Executive is much higher compared to what is obtainable at the local government level.
The House of Representatives, for example, is made up of 360 members, with different shades of opinion, different backgrounds and training. This has made it possible for them to exert a level of control and oversight over the executive arm of government. That is not to say that, there is no corruption. There is corruption. I think at the local government level, the quality of representation also makes it a bit difficult for oversight to be exercised on the chairman.
But I think, this is where the constitution, again, matters. The State Houses of Assembly has to extend their oversight to the local governments by making laws for the operations of the councils. So, I think that if we are to strengthen the local government, then the State Houses of Assembly must take a closer look at what is happening at that level. That is not to say that, money should not be allocated to the local governments. But the councils should be in a position to render account as to what they have done with the money previously released to them.
What manner of administrative reforms would you suggest to address some of the problems presently associated with local government administration?
One of the areas I will suggest is that people of integrity, experienced people, should start taking interest in what is happening at the local government level. We should have a situation, where somebody who has retired as a permanent secretary should be proud to say, he is a local government chairman, or he is a councillor. And don't forget the case of Alhaji Alhaji, who was the Finance Minister, and who later on, became a Councillor in Sokoto Local Government, in Sokoto State.
These are people that would ordinarily not touch the funds accruing to local governments, but will use it in the development of their areas. And I liken this situation to when Local Governments were called Native Authorities. Then, there was no subvention, but most of the things we are enjoying today in the local governments, particularly the old ones, were done by the Native Authorities. That was possible because of the quality of people in authority. I believe that if we can encourage people of good standing to take up appointments in the local governments, we would be reducing by about 50 percent the level of corruption that is prevalent in the local government areas.
It has been argued in some quarters that local governments should get more from the Federation Account than the other tiers of government. Do you agree with this?
Well, you have already spoken on the level of control at the local government level. The problem is not to say that the money is not adequate. We have all identified the problem to be, one, the mismanagement at the local level, and two, the manner in which the money is arbitrarily deducted at the State level, and I think that if we can tackle these, we would be addressing 50 percent of the shortage of revenue at the local level.
I also want to say that no community can thrive without taxes. So many countries in Europe have no crude oil. They live on taxes. I believe that we should also start looking inwards for avenues for revenue for local government. The local governments, for example, have been charged with the responsibility of taking revenue from radio and television users. But you discover that this is one area I have never heard local governments say, people should pay for television and radio rights. I think if we explore all these avenues, markets and the rest, then earnings ofocal governments will improve very substantially.
What really is the position of the constitution, from the point of view of your committee, on the withholding of allocation to states which had recently created additional local governments?
Well, I don't think I am very competent to interpret the constitution. The case is already in court, at the Supreme Court, and that is the body charged with the responsibility of interpreting the constitution. But I want to say that we as a committee, because this case is in court, we do not want to comment on it. But we have procedures for local governments creation. If we receive adequate returns from the Lagos State government in respect of this local governments, we set about to do our own side of what is required from the constitution in respect of new local government.
Outside the purview of the constitution, couldn't there have been a situation where a political solution can be found to this issue?
Well, I think, this decision of government to withhold the subventions to Lagos State Government is affecting other states. In some of these states, steps have been taken and the political solution you talk about have been found. Money is being released adequately to such States.
I refer you particularly to the State of Ebonyi, and two other states, which have re-christened the new ones as Development Areas. I think, if the difference is only in the language between Development Areas and Local Governments, for the purposes of money, why can't they just revert to the status quo, until the local governments so created have been properly enlisted in the constitution?
The impression in some quarters is that the concept of Development Area is a PDP idea, which the party wants to push down the throat of the opposition?
Well, I think the states involved are more PDP, than AD. The PDP states involved are Katsina, Niger, Ebonyi and Nasarrawa states. Four of the five states belong to the PDP. If you look at that ratio, that is about four to one. So, if we take our Mathematics, we would be having about 80% to 20%, so I think that it is not a PDP affair, but rather a policy decision of government.
Now, let�s go to Plateau State, where an emergency rule is presently in force. Your committee together with the Security and Intelligence Commiittee has been mandated to oversight activities in the State. What precisely is your brief?
Well, you have said it all. The National Assembly, in its own wisdom, decided that the Committee on States and Local Governments, Security and Intelligence should oversee Plateau State, particularly the resources accruing to the State during this period of emergency. If you recall, the National Assembly did pass a virement of N2.5 billion for purposes of trying to bring peace, and enforcing the state of emergency in Plateau. These are some of the resources we want to see the administrator judiciously put to use.
Also, note that in the absence of the Plateau State House of Assembly, the National Assembly legislates for the State, and I think that this is not peculiar to Plateau State. Mostly, our brief is to ensure the brief of the administrator is properly carried out,and peace returns to Plateau, as soon as possible, and the situation is brought under control.
Has your committee been furnished with the expenditure items for the N2.5billion vote?
That is part of the oversight that we are going to do. We have written to the administrator. We are going to visit Plateau. We are going to ascertain by ourselves what and what expenditure have been carried out, and to ensure that it is done in a proper manner in line with the constitution.
I believe that when we get there, we will get an adequate brief, so that we, in turn, will brief the House, and then Nigerians in general. And, to give people hope, the fact that emergency rule is in place, people are still accountable for their actions and to the people.
How soon is your Committee visiting Plateau State?
We had intended that we would be in Plateau today (last Thursday). I think that from all evidence, we would have to move in tomorrow (last Friday). It is not just N2.5 billion that has been given for the purposes of emergency rule in Plateau. Remember that the National Assembly did pass the 2004 Plateau State Appropriation Bill into law. That means, in effect, the normal subvention being accrued to Plateau will continue to accrue to Plateau State during the period of the emergency rule. This is also part of the money we want to ensure is put to judicious use in the absence of the State House of Assembly.
The recent structuring of the state�s bureaucracy by the Sole Administrator appears not to have gone done well in some quarters. The argument was that such actions signposts an intention to prolong the period of the emergency rule. What do you make of it?
I don't want to pre-empt what the Administrator is going to brief us, because as legislators, we have to listen to both parties. He has to brief the National Assembly on why he has taken certain decisions, as it effects the merging or scrapping of some parastatals. I think we have to reserve this until we get a proper brief so that we can relay it back to our honourable colleagues.
Benue State, where you come from, appears to be violence-prone, if we take into account the latest development in Kwande Local Government Area, where the Senate Adhoc Committee to investigate the carnage blamed prominent politicians from the state. What is happening?
Let me put it to you that with your conscience can you tell me that, Benue in the context of the Nigerian Federation is violence-prone? That is number one. Number two, what happened in Benue, which the Senate did set up a Committee to look at, I have seen the motion, I have seen the report of the Committee. I come from Benue State. The State has 23 local government areas. Out of these 23, there is crisis in one part. Does that qualifies for a State that is violence-prone? I leave it to you.
But I want to say that even in this Kwande Local Government, there are four intermediate districts and only two districts were involved in violence. The people were clearly identified. The Ad-hoc Committee sat for two days; they took evidence from people, traditional rulers, from the Police, director of the State Security Service (SSS), and they all had their report from the public, from the ANPP, PDP, UNPP and AD.
Throughout the sitting of this committee, nobody, no single witness, as you will see from the 80-page report did mention the names of some very prominent people and sons of Benue State. Their names were not mentioned anywhere in the report, either during the public hearing or from any witness. Yet, the Committee decided to insert their names as comments in the last page of the report. That is` what we find very funny.
If you are trying to bring peace in an area, and you make statements that will further bring more problems to the area, then you are not there for good. This is what we are saying because Benue, like any other state, has three senatorial districts, and people come from different area. If something is happening in one senatorial district, not even a Local Government, and you find yourself separate from another place, and somebody decides to go and just bring you in to create disharmony among the people, it can be embarassing.
The implication of what the Senate Committee did was to set up one big district against the other, because people who are perceived as being behind this kind of thing may tomorrow find themselves in a very unpleasant situation when they get back to the state. We have to correct this thing before it gets to the rural areas, to say that somebody is trying to destroy another person.
Mind you, the person they attempted to bring in is a minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. You cannot rule out mischief from this kind of thing, knowing very well that violence is one thing that everybody abhors, and it can easily lead to another person's removal in the Federal Executive Council (FEC), because as a minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, you cannot be seen to be condoning violence, let alone fomenting it. This is why we have to come out to disabuse the minds of Benue people at home, saying that report is not a report of the Senate; it is a report of a committee which was laid on the Senate. The Senate has not debated it.
Ordinarily, we would have ignored such comments from the Chairman, but coming from a distinguished person, we have to disabuse the mind of the people. As I told the press, it can have a very bad effect on the relationship between the people. We were also surprised that the report that has not been debated by the Senate has been given to the media by the Chairman. I don't know whose interest the report was intended to serve.
I pointed it out very clearly that the National Assembly cannot legislate on matters of Local Government election. This has been settled by the Supreme Court. We cannot be seen to be interfering in issues of local government elections in a state, which are clearly vested in the State Independent Electoral Commission (SIEC). Our power to investigate is clearly spelt out under Section 88 and 89 of the Constitution. We are excluded from making laws on states� elections. So, as the highest law-making body in the country, our utterances on issues that affect the States must be very carefully weighed so that people will not go with a wrong impression of what is being said.
From your own perspective, what should be the solution to the problem in Kwande?
The solution to the problem in Kwande is that the two major political parties, the PDP and ANPP should both call their supporters to order. The police, who are charged with the responsibility of maintaining law and order, should move into the area and recover illegal arms in peoples� possession, because it is with those arms that they terrorise the local people. Without arms, they can't harass anybody. They should also sheathe their sword and go for another election, as decided by Benue�s SIEC.
What is the legislative agenda of your committee?
The legislative agenda of my committee is to, as much as possible, improve upon governance at the local level, so that the generality of Nigerians will have a feel of democratic dividends. That is why, as much as possible, we are trying to ensure that more money gets to the local areas.
Sunday Punch, July 25, 2004
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The President-elect of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo
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