Local government workers in Kwara State, under the aegis of the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE), have asked Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq and members of the state House of Assembly to speed up the process required to have financial autonomy in the local government councils in the state.

Speaking with journalists in Ilorin on Wednesday, members of the NULGE, led by its president, Comrade Oyinlade Seun Adeleye, called on the governor to break his silence on the issue, saying that Kwara state should align itself with states that had passed the bill granting local government financial autonomy like Abia, Delta and Kogi.

The local government workers, who vowed to use their voters’ cards in the coming general elections against any lawmaker that opposes local government autonomy in the state, advised state legislators to go beyond advocating, “but actually vote for local government financial autonomy”.

“We’ll not be violent in our vigorous agitation, but we are going to fight with our voters’ cards. What we’re going to tell our people is that any member of the state House of Assembly who voted against local government autonomy, our people would vote him or her out of office.

“We will not vote for them. And we’re ready for any party that’s ready to embrace the local government autonomy. That is, we’re going to instruct our people to vote for such a party. We all belong to wards, polling booths and different communities in the state. We’ll mobilize to achieve our desired success”.

Comrade Adeleye, who described local government autonomy as a catalyst for grassroots development, said that financial autonomy in the council areas would help tackle such challenges as food security or prevalent insurgency.

“If the local government autonomy is in place, all the challenges bedevilling the grassroots areas like food insecurity, banditry, kidnapping and all forms of insecurity would be easy to deal with. We are not appendages of the state government. We are more recognized as the third tier of government. All that we’re clamouring for is for the benefit of the generality of the people and not for our own benefits. We want development at the grassroots level. Everyone belongs to one local government or the other. That’s why we should fight this battle together”, he said.

The NULGE in Kwara state appreciated members of the National Assembly and leaderships of both the Senate and the House of Representatives for their post-amendment intervention
geared towards rallying state legislators to vote in favour of the autonomy of the Local Government System in Nigeria.

“We are not unmindful of the outstanding principal concern of our struggle in relation to the autonomy of the Local Government, which is due to the desperation of some state governors to manipulate and truncate the quest for the independence of the third tier of government.

“We wish to commend members and leadership of the State Houses of Assembly that have passed the bill granting Local Government Autonomy.

“We also wish to use this opportunity to call on the executive governor of Kwara state to break his long silence on the vexed issue of Local Government Autonomy.

“Our governor must rise and invest in the trust of the Kwarans majority to write his name in gold, by aligning himself with true democrats and progressives.”