Kogi State House of Assembly has tacitly rejected Local Government Council autonomy as proposed by the National Assembly in the on-going constitutional amendment.
Speaking to the House on Wednesday, Prince Matthew Kolawole, speaker, who doubles as chairman, however, submitted section 162 of the Constitution to the House Committee on Local Government for public hearing, saying it adopted the alteration of its financial autonomy as contained in sections 121 “3″ (a, b,) of the 1999 constitution as (amended ).
Hassan Bello Abdullahi, Majority Leader, member representing Ajaokuta state constituency while presenting the bill for debate said that members should vote for, or against, the fifteen items slated for alteration in the Constitution, disclosing to them the pending petition against the LGA autonomy by the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) Kogi State chapter.
Adopting section 12 unanimously, the House voted against altering section 82 (a & b) 12 (a & b) which seek to prune down from six to three months in which expenditures shall be made from the previous budget before the passage of the new budget. Section 7 (a & b) 318, part 1 of the fifth schedule to strengthen the local administration was also stepped down even as the independent candidacy was thrown out. The House also passed 21 Local Government Councils’ Appropriation Bill for 2018 and adjourned till February 27, 2018.
In his reaction to the development, Comrade Adeyemi Tade, chairman, Kogi State chapter of Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), promised to mobilized his member and lover of Democracy across the state for the public hearing on the amendment even as he said he is confident that the members who are honourables would do the needful to respecting the will of the people.
Victoria Nnakiaike, Lokoja
