Eight State Assemblies back council autonomy, says NULGE

 • Edo, Imo Decline
Eight out of ten state Houses of Assembly have so far consented to the granting of autonomy to local government councils in the proposed amendment of the constitution.

This fact was made known by the National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE), which denied that most state Assemblies rejected the proposal.

National President of NULGE, Ibrahim Khaleel, who disclosed this yesterday in Abuja, said only Edo and Imo lawmakers rejected the idea, while Kwara, Benue, Niger, Plateau, Bauchi, Cross River, Bayelsa and Ogun supported the amendment.

Khaleel explained that only 10 states had so far considered the bill as at Thursday. He said he decided to seek clarification from the Chairman, Conference of Speakers, and senior officials of the National Assembly against the backdrop of insinuations that most states turned down council autonomy.

According to him, while Rivers and Lagos States are yet to debate the Local Government Autonomy Bill, the remaining 24, who joined the other 10 states to transmit it to the National Assembly, said they stepped down the bill for further consultation.

He said: “This means that 24 Houses of Assembly are still working on it. Many of them are already holding public hearing. For example, Sokoto State just conducted public hearing on the bill between Tuesday and Thursday last week. Gombe has just called for a memorandum from its citizens on the Bill. Others also differed it to hold public hearing and further discussions, before they vote and forward it to the Chairman, Conference of Speakers.