Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Science and Technology, Mr. Abiodun Akinlade, on Sunday in Abuja defended the decision of the House to grant autonomy to local government areas in the ongoing review of the 1999 Constitution.
Akinlade, who represents Yewa South/Ipokia Federal Constituency of Ogun State, said lawmakers voted according to the wish of their people.
Akinlade said, "This is what our people want; we conducted a People's Public Session all over the federation on November 10, 2012. The result of that session showed that Nigerians voted overwhelmingly for local government autonomy.
"As their representatives, we merely endorsed their wish by granting autonomy to local governments."
The Action Congress of Nigeria legislator also said the lawmakers were emboldened to grant the autonomy because of their conviction that it would "enhance grassroots development."
Akinlade, a governorship aspirant in Ogun State, said there were moves to scuttle the decision of the House by some forces, which were against local government autonomy.
"We had to ignore them because what was uppermost in our minds was the wish of our people. We are happy today that we protected their interest," he added.
On Wednesday, the House made several changes to Section 7 of the Constitution by recognising the local government system as a full tier of government, like the federal and state governments.
Lawmakers scrapped the controversial State/Local Government Joint Account and created a special account, where the councils could draw their funds directly from the Federation Account.
The Punch