OUR LOCAL GOVERNMENTS ARE NOT RIPE FOR AUTONOMY -Lagos Lawmaker, Dayo Saka Fafunmi

As the Chairman of the Lagos State House of Assembly Committee on Public Accounts (Local), Hon. Dayo Saka Fafunmi is in the best position to speak on the autonomy of local governments in Nigeria.

The verdict of the lawmaker, who is serving his second term in the House, is that Nigerian local governments are not ripe for autonomy.

Fafunmi stated that local governments have abused such opportunity in the past and that the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria recognizes the federal and state governments and that the country is not ripe for totally autonomous local governments.

Despite that, Fafunmi, who is representing Ifako/Ijaiye Constituency 1 in the House, believes the councils should enjoy a measure of freedom, but that they cannot be left alone if we want to develop as a nation.

The lawmaker also bares his mind on tenure elongation of elected local government officials and the management of finances in the local government councils in this interview he granted us recently.

Would you say local governments should be given total autonomy since there are insinuations that some state governments are mismanaging local council funds?

You are the first person that would clear the air on the issue with the way you frame your question. But let me start by saying that local governments, according to the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is regarded as parts of the state, the constitution recognizes the central government and the sub-nationals, that is the states. The constitution gives powers to the states houses of assembly to regulate the creation, establishment and determination of anything that has to do with local governments, that is just to say that the state has constitutional powers over local governments, according to the 1999 Constitution as amended.

Now, if local governments are now agitating for autonomy, I would say they are not ripe for autonomy. You are canvassing for financial autonomy, but I think their financial autonomy should not be total. I am in support of the agitation that there should be certain level of autonomy for them, but it should not be total. The position of Lagos State as canvassed by Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola of the state is to the effect that the local governments should still be under the state governments.

Looking at the apparatus of the local governments, if the state does not carry supervision on them, it could be disastrous because the personnel at the local governments lack capacity amongst other things. It is the closest to the people, so you don’t have to be so educated to become a councilor. The councilor is meant to represent the people at the grassroots, so we should not give them too much responsibility.

As you have just said that the inadequacy of the councilors is why councils are not given autonomy, don’t you think the autonomy would now give them the rope to operate effectively

It is a function of personal conviction, I would tell you that some local governments are doing well despite not being autonomous, at least that is happening in Lagos State. Even if they are given autonomy, which does not translate into more money, to the best of my knowledge, nobody is deducting money from the councils except the statutory deductions, which are meant to take care of things such as water, environment and some other fixed statutory deductions. Moreso, why Lagos State is different from other states is because according to the constitutional provisions, we created additional administrative units; Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) and the constitution made it mandatory that for them to be listed, the list should to go to the senate and don’t forget that the senate is populated by the opposition and listing anything in the constitution would amount to amending the constitution, which is very difficult now. What we did was to revert from creating local governments to creating LCDAs and this is just to say that in a local government, where you have N10 Million, you share it between or among the local governments there including the LCDAs for even development and this has worked in Lagos State.

There is no part of Lagos State amongst the 20 Local Governments and 37 LCDAs, where you will not feel the impact of the government and it is just a way of saying we took the right decision at the right time. Our leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, took the right decision at the right time by creating the 37 LCDAs then, which the House, proudly, was part of. Having followed the due process, I don’t see reason people should not appreciate the role of the House on creating these. When we had 20 LGs, it was not palatable, look at the old Alimosho Local Government, it used to be only one then, but they are now six. It is the same money that they were collecting that they are collecting now; other areas were left undeveloped then. But with the creation of LCDAs, we have seen remarkable development and tremendous growth in local government activities across the state.

My reason for saying that we should not give local governments total autonomy is because where there is no law, there is no offence, the constitution still forbids such autonomy. We tried it during the military era, where local governments were given allocation directly from Abuja by the Federal Government; most of them were living like tin gods. You would see most local government chairmen in vehicles as if they were state governors and the governors had no control over them. Our democracy is not ripe for that except we develop to a level, where every arm of government understands its onions, know their constitutional roles and perform them effectively, until then, we cannot give them autonomy. I learnt that the National Assembly included that as part of their recommendations, but don’t forget that for amendments to be made on the constitution, whatever the National Assembly wants to do is still subject to approval of the states houses of assembly and I can tell you that it is going to be difficult for them because every state government would want to exercise certain levels of control such that the resources accruable to the local governments can be channeled towards purpose-driven policies of the state governor. When a government is interested in developing the infrastructure of the entire state, the governor should be able to direct the local governments to complement its efforts. Let us say the government is constructing the major roads, the state needs to be complemented, they are to make sure that the local governments tar accessible roads to link the major roads. But if they are totally independent, a local government chairman would tell the Governor, ‘I don’t think I need roads, I want to spend my money on farming.’ the Governor cannot do anything because he has no control over them. It is like creating another government out of a government.

Let us talk about finances, we have seen a situation, where some state governors deduct the money of local governments unnecessarily, is this right?

No, governors cannot do anything with local governments’ money without informing the chairmen. The money is paid into the account of Joint Accounts Allocation Committee (JAAC) and the Governor cannot unilaterally spend the money without the consent of the local government chairmen. It is usually done with their consent, so no arm is done to a man who has consented.

Don’t you think some of the local governments’ chairmen would find it difficult to have dissenting opinions?

Thank God that you have someone who can listen in Lagos State, if you have a superior argument, the governor would listen to you. I have seen some local governments, where their money was given to them to spend the way they want. Like the Lagos Island Local Government, when the excess crude oil money was paid, they told the Governor that they wanted to invest the money on transportation project within the Lagos metropolis, and the Governor obliged them because it still falls within the megacity plan of the government, so they still have the liberty to spend their money the way they want unless people want to create an impression that they lack control. What they are saying is that for you to spend any money, seek approval, and if you tell me you want to do 10 roads with an amount of money and I know that the money cannot do 10 roads, I have to advise you based on experience that the money cannot do 10 roads, why not prioritize best 5 roads that would serve the interest of the people. When the council had total autonomy, when you go to work, you are not sure if you will still go back home as a staff. An accountant could resume and the chairman needs money and he cannot provide the money, the chairman can sack him immediately there. But, now we have Local Government Service Commission and there are other parastatals that check the excesses of council chairmen. By the time we are fully ripe for it, everyone would agree that the local government should be given total autonomy.

We know there is a tendency for some council chairman to misappropriate or embezzle funds, as Chairman House Committee on Public Account (Local), would you say you are satisfied with the way our local governments are being managed in Lagos State?

As the Chairman of House Committee on Public Account (Local), I can say part of the constitutional roles of local governments is to collect rates and levies and I must say that Nigerians don’t like paying taxes, very few people pay taxes and they would evade it if they have the opportunity. Most Nigerians believe that the money is not being judiciously spent, which is why they are not paying. However, with what the Lagos State Government has been able to do, the people should realize that it is time we should all perform our civic responsibilities. Now, paying of tax is our civic responsibility, every taxable adult is expected to do that. As this administration has been able to put up developmental projects in terms of provision of infrastructure, health facilities, every Lagosian is feeling the impact of democracy in the state. If that statement is true, I would say that chairmen of councils and councilors should do more by ensuring that within their areas, they are able to develop a model with which they can collect all necessary taxes and rates. I know you would say most collectible rates are being collected by the state government, but those rates that are being collected by the state on behalf of the local councils is a further prove that the local governments cannot effectively drive this revenue generation. The state collects on their behalf and gives it back to them, it is not that the state would collect and spend the money; they are remitted to the councils. They give us the opportunity of seeing what is being paid to them and no local government has complained that they are not getting the money.

What would you say you have been able to correct in the local governments since you got to office as chairman of the committee that oversees their accounts?

The first thing I did when I assumed office was to demand for the budget of all the councils. Before then, most councils didn’t pass their budgets until about June of the fiscal tear. But I told them they must submit their budget and budget monitor, which is where I can conveniently do oversight and monitor their activities. I am not the one approving their budgets, but in a bid to do my oversight functions, I have to look at what has been approved and how they are complying. Away from that, I have seen some councils make very funny budgetary provisions. I have seen a council that made budgetary provision of over N2 Billion, and I came up and say how do you intend to generate such money. Budget is usually about income column and expenditure. It is usually recurrent and capital, when you have an over-bloated projected income, at the end of the day, your overhead cost would rise and when you are not able to meet your income projection, you want to fulfill your overhead at the expense of capital expenditure and that I have checked effectively. If I see a budget that I can not foresee the projected income, I query it, which is one of my reasons for saying that the councils need to do more, the councilors should show more interest in their budget.

But, in most cases, it is like the councilors are not heard and the council chairmen assume their roles and do everything unlike the state, where the legislators are powerful

Power is not given on a platter of gold, you have to demand it, earn it, nobody would tell you to come and take certain powers. But when the councilors look at the constitution and look at the administrative guidelines of the house and the enabling laws, they would be able to derive their powers and use it effectively in the interest of the masses. Lagos is where we are today because of what the lawmakers have been doing, if Lagos lawmakers decide to sleep, if the leadership of the House decides to sleep, the executive would have a field day and even at a pace at which we are challenging their activities, they still do things that cannot be described as being done in the interest of the people.

Some people have said that resolutions of the Lagos State House of Assembly are not being respected by the state government, what do you say to that?

I think it is neither here nor there; some resolutions will be taken care of by the Governor as long as they are visibly enforceable. For instance, sometimes a circumstantial motion might come up on the floor of the House, someone who feels his constituents are being shortchanged and brings the matter to the floor of the House, the lawmakers would debate it, come up with resolutions and pass recommendations to the governor, the governor might have a Bill, which is yet to come to the House that would address those issues, how do you expect him to quickly work on the resolution of the House. Sometimes because of communication gaps, there would be problem, it happens in the National Assembly too. Sometimes, the Governor might have some information, which the legislators might not be aware of. So, what they do is to hold actions on it until the issues are cleared. They would need to consult with the leadership of the House and they would give them information. Later, the leadership would give us the information, resolution is like a tool of the House and any Governor who want to enjoy the lawmakers must obey resolutions that are visibly practicable. Lagos State House of Assembly makes resolutions from an informed view, some houses of assembly would make resolutions that even the President cannot implement. May be someone is missing and they are saying the Governor must provide the person within 24 hours, if you make such resolution, they would just sit down and laugh because it is not practicable. Anyone that is practicable must be enforced because we are parts of the government and it is a voice that must be heard.

The House passed a resolution that tolling must be suspended at the Lekki-Ikoyi Bridge, but it is not being obeyed by the state government

I think the Resolution was to the effect that His Excellency should go ahead with the commissioning of the bridge, but we did not resolve that the tolling must stop. The Commissioner for Works and Special Adviser on PPP came and we demanded for additional information and more documents to justify their claims. What we are trying to do is to serve the interest of the people and we will surely do that.

There is a Bill before the House on the elongation of the tenure of local government elected officials; would you support this as some people feel elections should be conducted the same year across the state?

There is a Bill before the House about local government administration; the Bill is not about tenure elongation alone as most newspapers have reported. The purpose of the Bill is to have a compendium of local government laws such that we will have easy referral instead of having them in several places. Don’t forget that the process of lawmaking entails public hearing, where it is thrown to members of the public, we expect memorandum in favour or against, and the House would listen to the masses. It is the constitutional responsibility of the House to make laws for the state, which include the local governments.

With your experience as a lawmaker, would you say it is better to be here or be in the executive to affect the masses?

What you want me to do is to compare the executive and the legislature, it is like drawing comparism between the known and the unknown, I have never been a member of the executive, so I am not in a position to know, which is better. But being a lawmaker, you represent the people and the interest of your constituents, but if you are a member of the executive, you are representing the interest of the government, which might be for the state or for the generality of the people.