Adewale Akinola: Lagos APC aspirant lauds Tinubu on LG autonomy, urges Nigerians to hold local politicians accountable
"We want to make it clear to our people and show them that local government areas can do much more than the status quo."
An aspirant of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos state, Adewale Akinola, has commended the efforts made by the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration to, in his words, “bring the dividends of democracy closer to Nigerians”.
That is what Akinola, who wants to be elected as the councillor of Ward E of Ipaja local government (LG) area of Lagos state, believes the implementation of LG autonomy will erald into the country.
Recall that the Supreme Court on June 11 reserved judgment in the suit filed by the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), on behalf of the Tinubu-led federal government against the 36 state governors of Nigeria. The suit is seeking full autonomy for the 774 local governments in the country.
Akinola, in a statement made available to The Realm News on Friday, backed the move by the Tinubu government, saying that it would bring democracy closer to the people and empower local areas to hold local government chairmen and councillors accountable for their actions and inactions.
“This is why I am running for the office of the councillor of Ward E in Ipaja LG of Lagos state,” Akinola told our correspondent.
“We have got to realise that the federal government is not solely responsible for running the country. By advocating for LG autonomy, the Tinubu government is essentially bringing development closer to voters who can now easily elect local government chairmen and councillors they know and hold them accountable to their campaign promises.
“Gone are the days when local politicians can just disappear and become inaccessible after winning elections only to reappear when they need people’s votes again. That is why we are running an open-door, transparent and accountable campaign in Ward E of Ipaja Lagos. Our platform is based on liberation, integrity, action and compassion.
“We want to make it clear to our people and show them that local government areas and their wards can do much more than the status quo. LG autonomy will boost our drive to elevate the quality of life of our people,” he said.
In the suit marked SC/CV/343/2024, the Tinubu government wanted the apex court to enforce the autonomy of the local government by, among other things, stopping state governors from appointing caretaker committees to administer local governments in their states.
The government wanted the court to rule that any local government manned by a caretaker committee instead of an elected local government chairman and councillors should have their funds from the federation account withheld.
It also wanted the court to rule that funds due to local governments from the federation account should be paid directly to them instead of through the state government to guarantee their autonomy.
The seven-man panel, of the apex court led by Justice Garba Lawal, announced that parties in the matter would be communicated when the judgment was ready after parties in the suit adopted their processes. All 36 states in their response opposed the FG’s suit and appealed to the court to throw it out. AGF asked the apex court to grant all the reliefs sought by the federal government in the suit.