Former Minister of Agriculture, Audu Ogbeh, has called on the Federal Government to suspend monthly allocations to states where governors establish caretaker committees for Local Government (LG) administrations.
Ogbeh said the illegality of caretaker committees, referencing a Supreme Court ruling that deemed such appointments unlawful.
He suggested that funds should be withheld from states employing these committees until they comply with the legal requirement of elected LG administrations.
Ogbeh aired his concerns during an appearance on “Inside Sources with Laolu Akande,” a socio-political program broadcast on Channels Television.
The 76-year-old ex-minister argued that the use of caretaker committees undermines the efficiency of local governments and contributes to the mismanagement of funds intended for grassroots development.
Nigeria’s local government system, comprising 774 local government areas, has faced significant challenges due to the control exerted by state governors.
These governors have been accused of diverting funds meant for local government administration, leading to calls for greater LG autonomy.
President Bola Tinubu has expressed support for these calls, and in May, the Federal Government initiated legal action against the 36 state governors for alleged misappropriation of local government funds.
The current revenue allocation formula grants the Federal Government 52.68%, states 26.72%, and local governments 20.60% of the nation’s monthly revenue, as determined by the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) and disbursed by the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC).
However, the practice of paying LG funds into joint accounts managed by state governments has been criticized for enabling fund mismanagement.
Ogbeh, a former National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), advocated the discontinuation of this practice, urging the Federal Government to ensure that LG funds are deposited directly into accounts managed solely by local government administrations.
He expressed frustration over the disappearance of funds meant for local development, highlighting the lack of maintenance for primary schools and other basic amenities.
“I can’t be sending you money that disappears. You don’t repair primary schools, you don’t do anything, the money vanishes, and they say they are paying workers, for which work? Strolling around in the morning and drinking palm wine? These are the issues. Those failures are creating dangerous problems for the country,” Ogbeh stated.
He accused some governors of appointing loyalists as caretaker chairmen, providing them with minimal stipends while diverting the majority of the funds to dubious purposes.
Ogbeh expressed support for the Federal Government’s efforts, led by Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) Lateef Fagbemi, to restore financial and legislative autonomy to local governments.
Ogbeh stressed the importance of a functional LG system in addressing many of Nigeria’s social and environmental challenges.
He urged the President and the 36 state governors to deliberate on the future of local governments, emphasizing the need for partnership between state and local governments to ensure overall development.
“Here you have a system which unfortunately is not working. If it were working, a lot of these problems would not be there.
“You have a governor in the state and there are 10, 15 local governments, and the local government is failing,” Ogbeh noted.
He outlined the potential benefits of an effective LG system, including the provision of potable water, the prevention of infectious diseases, the maintenance of school infrastructure, and the availability of medical supplies in healthcare centers.
Ogbeh warned that if governors continue to impede the functionality of local governments, the system should be scrapped altogether.
“What I want to say to Nigerians, if we don’t want the local government system, scrap it. If it were allowed to work, it would have been a fantastic system,” he said.
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