Following the Supreme Court’s ruling on local government autonomy, the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) in Lagos State has declared that local government chairmen have no more excuses for non-performance.
The State IPAC Chairperson, Mrs. Temilola Akinade, made this statement during an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Lagos.
The Supreme Court ruled in favor of full financial autonomy for the 774 local government councils in the country, ordering the Federal Government to start direct payment of local governments’ funds to the councils’ exclusive accounts immediately.
Akinade praised President Bola Tinubu’s commitment to local government autonomy and noted that the verdict would ensure the delivery of more dividends of democracy to people at the grassroots level.
“That is the best way to go. Our expectation now is that local governments having full autonomy will help the council chairmen to do more in the various local government areas,” Akinade said.
“If they do not see this autonomy as a way of enriching themselves more, it is expected they will do more to impact the people.”
She emphasized the importance of citizens holding their council leadership accountable for the proper use of resources meant for them.
“With this, I don’t think there should be more stories by local government chairmen.
They need to do more for the people,” Akinade added.
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