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 Daily
Independent Online.
* Thursday, June 17, 2004.
New LGs:
Ebonyi makes the difference
By Donald Ibekwe
It
is liberating, indeed interesting, to know that the wheat has been
separated from the chaff over the new local government areas created in
some states of the Federation. Initially, Ebonyi State was classified
among four others, namely, Katsina, Nasarawa, Niger and Lagos as states
that illegally and unconstitutionally brought new local government
councils into being.
The
states in question, all of which are controlled by the ruling Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP) except Lagos, had earlier defied the directive of
the party not to hold elections in the new councils created by them. In
response to what appeared to be the recalcitrance of the aforementioned
states, President Olusegun Obasanjo wrote a letter to the Federation
Account Allocation Committee informing it of his decision to withhold
revenue allocation to the five states on the ground that the National
Assembly did not provide for the councils in the Constitution.
Since
then, the revenue accruing to the local government areas of the concerned
states have been withheld. However, Dr. Sam Egwu, the executive Governor
of Ebonyi State, was able to break the ice. Because the creation of new
local government areas in the state is markedly different from what
obtained in some other states, Egwu was able to persuasively and
convincingly argue his case before Mr. President.
The
gist of the governor's presentation to the president was that the
creation of new local government councils in Ebonyi State was in order.
The state did not only follow the due process of the law, it created its
own councils at a time elected chairmen and councillors of the 774 local
government areas of the Federation were still in office. No new local
government can be said to have been duly and validly created without the
input of elected local government officials. States which created their
own local government areas at a time the caretaker committee members were
in charge acted illegally and not in line with the provisions of section
8 (3) of the 1999 constitution.
It is
also instructive that in creating new local government councils, Egwu did
not tamper with the 13 existing local government councils. Each of them
retained its status and name. What the state government did instead was
to create additional councils in order to redistribute the resources of
the state in such a manner that no component part is left out or
marginalised. It was in the pursuit of this equity and fair-play that the
State House of Assembly, in compliance with Section 162(8) put in place
the State. Joint Local Government Account into which shall be paid all
allocations to the local government councils of the state from the
Federation Account and from the Government of the state. Based on this
constitutional provision, the State House of Assembly in February 2000
passed a bill on State Joint Local Government Account into law. With this
law in place, the state legislature then embarked on full scale creation
of more local governments. The overall objective was to redistribute the
resources of the state in such a manner that the greater majority of the
people would benefit from government. It took the state legislature 15
months to complete this process.
This
was part of the case Egwu took to Obasanjo. Now, if you put the Ebonyi
case side by side with what obtained in some states, you will see for
yourself which state or states violated the provisions of the
constitution in this matter. Egwu, certainly, has a good case and I am
sure that Obasnajo was patient enough to understand what has taken place.
Consequently, he has released the revenue accruing to the local
government areas of Ebonyi State.
Obasanjo's
decision was principally based on the fact that Ebonyi did not tamper
with the existing local government areas. The president's argument was,
and still remains, that local government areas which are not listed in
the constitution do not deserve any allocation.
It is
important to note that when Ebonyi created new local government areas, it
made returns to the National Assembly which was then led by Anyim Pius
Anyim. But owing to the rivalry between Egwu and Anyim, the National
Assembly did not view favourably the returns from Ebonyi. It is therefore
clear to Nigerians, including Mr. President, who did not want new but
duly created local government councils such as the ones in Ebonyi listed
in the constitution. Having recognised that the National Assembly failed
to do its work, the president is, at least, insisting on the fact that
the original local government councils for which the states are known
should remain undiluted. In this regard, Obasanjo, again, found Ebonyi in
order.
Thus,
when Egwu talks o-f development centers, he is, in fact, referring to the
fact that these new councils came into being for the purpose of
developing the grassroots. As a matter of fact, the real purpose for
which local governments came into being was to develop the rural areas.
By taking this step, Egwu has created more development centres. It is
therefore erroneous and misleading to say that Ebonyi has decided to
christen its new local government councils development centres. This is
far from the truth. The fact of the matter is that the new local
government councils in Ebonyi State remain. They have not been scrapped
and nobody is contemplating doing that.
Rather,
they are existing side by side with the original 13 and together, they
are sharing the revenue accruing to the state on local government matters
using the instrumentality of State Joint Local Government Account.
Egwu
deserves commendation in this matter. His success here is a demonstration
of the fact that if you do the right thing, it will be acknowledged by
men and women of goodwill. Now, Ebonyi is being used as a reference
point. The Governor has not, in any way, sold out. Rather, he has,
through this, challenged those who have not done the right thing to
return to the drawing board and strive to get it right.
The
lesson to be learnt from this is that it is arbitrary for states to
tamper with the names and headquarters of local governments as spelt out
in the constitution without making reference to the National Assembly.
Ebonyi did not run foul of the law. It therefore stands out today as a
model to be emulated. Those who did not understand what has happened
between Egwu and Obasanjo are therefore invited to appreciate the Ebonyi
scenario with a view to getting properly informed. This is yet another
milestone recorded by Egwu.
• Ibekwe wrote in from Enugu.
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