It's unrealistic to expect autonomy from local governments

A former Minister of Works and one-time Governor of Lagos State, Babatunde Raji Fashola, has opined that it is unrealistic to expect autonomy from local governments created by the constitution, adding that they were not meant to be autonomous.

For decades, debates have raged over the autonomy of local governments and whether there are constitutional provisions that grant such autonomy.

While speaking on Channels TV on Saturday, the former minister stated that he arrived at this conclusion after reading the constitution.

“As it stands today, it is unrealistic to expect autonomy for local governments created by the constitution. They were not meant to be autonomous. That is my view after a very close reading of certain provisions of the Constitution,” said Fashola.

While speaking on the provisions of the constitution regarding local governments, Fashola stated that state houses of assembly enact laws for local governments, which negates the principles of autonomy.

“Certain provisions of the constitution, for example, provide that the local government in its economic activities will have laws made for it by the State House of Assembly. If you look at the legal and ordinary meaning of the word autonomy. It suggests that you are acting independently without any outside influence or authority.

“And to this extent, the state house of assembly making laws for what and how a local government can function is in itself an external influence that contradicts the idea of autonomy,” said Fashola.

He also opined that autonomy was not intended for local governments, but rather for a collaboration between state governments and local governments.

“What I think was intended was some collaboration, some sort of supervision, some oversight of the state over the local government, and that is inherent in what you will find in section 162, which deals with the state joint local government account.

“Up to 1999, the local government used to collect their monies directly from the federation account under a process that I think was known as joint account,” he added.