Charles Chukwuma Soludo, the Anambra State Governor, has said that granting absolute autonomy to local government authorities is ‘a recipe for humongous chaos’ in Nigeria.

He made this statement while addressing the media after signing the Anambra State Local Government Administration Law, a law that would mandate LGs to surrender a percentage of their federal allocations to the state government, on Tuesday.

Soludo argued that LG autonomy would not allow for sustainable development in the country.

READ ALSO: Soludo Moves to Deduct Funds From Local Govt Allocations

 “The absolute autonomy to the 774 local government areas in the country is an impossibility. In fact, it is a recipe for humongous chaos”, The Punch quoted Soludo on Tuesday.

The Anambra governor also argued that state oversight was necessary for properly implementing state autonomy in the country.

He said that section 7 of the constitution grants state governments the authority to enact laws to administer local governments under their jurisdiction.

“The attendant challenges before the issue of local government autonomy are such that would certainly deepen the fate of the system and spell doom for the expected beneficiaries of the process if not well planned,” Soludo added.

On Thursday, the Anambra legislature passed the “Anambra Local Government Administration Law 2024”.

Despite a Supreme Court ruling that granted financial autonomy to local governments across Nigeria, the law would make local governments in the state remit a portion of the allocations they receive from the federal government into a state government-controlled consolidated account. Speaking on the law, Soludo argued that it was pivotal for transparency in the local governments.

“The new laws by Anambra House of Assembly are therefore consequential to give operational life to the Supreme Court judgment and not to undermine it. If the State House of Assembly abdicates this constitutional duty, the Local Government will then have no law on the use and management of its finance,” the governor said.

Speaking further, Soludo addressed the allegations that state governors had been mismanaging local government funds.

READ ALSO: How Orji Uzor Kalu, Contractors Wasted N398.8m Meant for 3 Local Roads

He said, “Governors are often accused of seeking to ‘control’ LG funds with insinuations that LG funds are mismanaged. Of course, in a society where public office is seen as a ‘dining table’ and public trust is low, people judge others by their own standards.”

On July 11, the Supreme Court ruled that all 774 local governments must receive their allocations directly from the Accountant-General of the Federation (AGF). Most importantly, the court declared it illegal for governors to withhold local government funds

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