A civil society organisation, Citizens Center for Integrated Development and Social Rights (CCIDESOR), has solicited greater collaboration with the Abia State Independent Electoral Commission (ASIEC), the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs and Nigerian Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) to promote transparent and accountable administration at the council level.
The Programme Director of the
organisation, Mr Chidi Igwe who made the call during an interactive session
with the stakeholders in Umuahia, the Abia capital, said that the LG Advocacy
is with support from National Endowment for Democracy (NED). Igwe said that
adequate cooperation between the organisation and the stakeholders would help
to ensure proper democratic governance at the third tier of government.
He expressed the need to prioritise the national discourse on local government
autonomy because of the strategic role local governments were expected to play
in the development of the grassroots. He said that local government financial
autonomy would help to ensure that monthly Federal Allocations to councils
would be properly deployed in meeting the basic needs of the people.
In his remark, Mr Chigozie Uzosike,
the Mobilization/Communication Officer of CCIDESOR, described the provision of
basic amenities at the grassroots as an effective strategy to address
rural-urban migration. Uzosike said that transparency and accountability were
essential in managing public funds. He said that effective management of local
government finances would help to tackle the dearth of basic amenities in rural
communities.
In their responses, the stakeholders described the campaign for transparency
and accountability in the local government system as a welcome development. “It
is not proper for the revenue meant for the local government to be given to the
state government. This will stunt development at the grassroots. “When the
local government has autonomy, the problem of non-payment of salaries and
absence of basic amenities will be dealt with.
