Human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Femi Falana, on Thursday known as for larger accountability in native authorities administration, accusing state governments of undermining native councils’ autonomy and irritating the supply of important companies by way of the diversion and mismanagement of their funds.
Falana additionally urged Nigerians to carry native and state governments accountable for public sources, stressing that the nation’s growth challenges couldn’t be addressed by focusing solely on the federal authorities.
He made this recognized at DevReporting documentary screening of ‘LG Billions in the Dark’, an investigative documentary analyzing native governance in Osun State, held on the University of Lagos.
In his keynote, ‘Accountability, Resources and Citizen Voices: Building Local Government that Works the People’, Falana mentioned native governments, which ought to be the closest tier of presidency to the folks, had been weakened by political interference, poor electoral practices and the failure of state authorities to adjust to court docket judgments guaranteeing their autonomy.
He cited the July 2024 Supreme Court judgment affirming the monetary autonomy of native governments, which prohibited state governments from withholding funds allotted to democratically elected councils and from dissolving such councils and changing them with caretaker committees.
According to him, “despite the landmark judgment, some state governments have continued to disregard the court’s decisions, undermining the constitutional status of local governments.”
He argued that disobedience to court docket judgments had grow to be a rising menace to the rule of legislation, insisting that every one authorities and people should adjust to judicial choices in a constitutional democracy.
He recalled earlier Supreme Court pronouncements emphasising that the rule of legislation should prevail as soon as a rustic chooses constitutional governance over arbitrary rule.
The human rights lawyer questioned the whereabouts of considerable allocations accruing to native governments, noting that the absence of seen growth in lots of communities raised critical issues about how public funds had been being utilised.
He challenged residents to demand explanations from their native councils and state governments, fairly than concentrating their consideration completely on the federal authorities.
Falana mentioned efficient native governance was important to bettering infrastructure, training, healthcare and financial alternatives on the grassroots.
He additionally criticised the conduct of native authorities elections in Nigeria, alleging that state unbiased electoral commissions typically produced outcomes favouring ruling events, thereby weakening public confidence within the electoral course of.
Falana acknowledged: “the failure to conduct credible elections has contributed to public apathy towards local government administration and undermined democratic participation at the grassroots.”
He maintained that native governments had been recognised as a definite tier of presidency in Nigeria’s constitutional framework, including that the precept of native authorities autonomy was not peculiar to the nation.
He cited federal programs equivalent to Brazil and Switzerland as examples of nations the place native governments take pleasure in constitutional recognition.
The lawyer additional urged governments to prioritise obligatory primary training, warning that the failure to supply entry to training had contributed to the rising variety of out-of-school youngsters and heightened insecurity.
He famous that Nigerian legislation offers for obligatory training for kids, with obligations shared among the many federal, state and native governments.
Falana warned that neglecting the training of kids from poor households may have far-reaching penalties for society, stressing that entry to training was elementary to addressing insecurity and social inequality.
He additionally known as for stronger authorities intervention to assist farmers and native financial actions, arguing that public sources ought to be deployed to create sustainable livelihoods fairly than programmes that fail to empower beneficiaries economically.
The lawyer urged the folks of Osun State to demand larger transparency within the administration of the state’s mineral sources, together with gold, which he mentioned had been found within the state for many years.
He expressed concern about mining actions that allegedly degrade the setting with out delivering corresponding advantages to native communities.
Falana mentioned the state’s mineral wealth ought to be harnessed transparently for the advantage of its folks, fairly than permitting non-public pursuits to use the sources with out sufficient public accountability.
He urged Nigerians to take larger curiosity in governance in any respect ranges, stressing that democracy may solely ship significant advantages when residents actively monitored public officers and demanded accountability.
In her remarks, the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Prof. Folasade Ogunsola, known as for competent, adequately funded and accountable native governments to drive city growth and be sure that the affect of governance is felt by unusual Nigerians.
She mentioned native governments remained vital to addressing on a regular basis challenges going through residents, together with poor roads, waste administration, insufficient drainage programs, unsafe markets and restricted entry to primary facilities.
She emphasised the implications of insufficient funding in native authorities administration, including that Nigeria was experiencing speedy urbanisation, with cities increasing quicker than the infrastructure, establishments and sources obtainable to assist their rising populations.
According to her, native governments are strategically positioned to translate growth plans into sensible actions due to their understanding of group wants, susceptible populations and the pressures going through neighbourhoods.
She mentioned, “the future of Africa, and indeed Nigeria, will be shaped in significant measure by the future of its cities, and the future of our cities will depend on whether we build local governments that are competent, adequately resourced, accountable, and responsive to their citizens.”
The Chairman of the event and Chief Executive Officer, Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID), Dapo Olorunyomi mentioned the standard of journalism in Nigeria is carefully linked to the energy of its democratic establishments, urging journalists to prioritise accountability, accountable reporting and growth journalism.
He defined the state of journalism in several sectors, together with training, sports activities and enterprise, may present insights into the challenges confronting these sectors, noting that efficient reporting was important to selling institutional accountability and nationwide growth.
He emphasised the accountability of journalists to query these in energy, scrutinise public establishments and report points affecting residents.
According to him, accountability stays a elementary pillar of democracy, though journalism and the broader information media face vital challenges in fulfilling this accountability.
“If our democracy is suffering, we do not have to look too far to understand why. We should examine the state of journalism in the country,” he mentioned
Olorunyomi who can be the Publisher of Premium Times, urged journalists to strategy their work from the attitude of accountability by asking vital questions, analyzing establishments, exposing shortcomings the place needed and serving to residents perceive points affecting their lives.
Funmi Ogundare
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