Former Governor of Ekiti State, Dr Kayode Fayemi has rejected the ruling of the Supreme Court of Nigeria that granted autonomy to the 774 Local Governments in the country.
Speaking at the launch of a leadership and economic summit by St. Racheal’s People Consulting, he said Local Government autonomy is strange to Nigerian Constitution.
He insisted that the legal victory secured by the federal government did not address the root causes of Nigeria’s socio-economic and security problems.
The summit where he spoke was themed “Economic Prosperity- Secrets of Audacious Leaders.”
Dr Fayemi expressed the concerns that the Nigeria is gradually sliding into unitarianism.
He said it is ignorant to label local government as the third tier of government when it should be the states that should determine their operations.
“We cannot return to a unitary state. But unfortunately, we are gradually going back to a unitary form of government even though it is being dressed up as restructuring.
“The president is a federalist, he is a leader in my party, we share quite a lot in common, but I do not know any federal entity anywhere in the world where the federal government becomes the driver of what happens in the local government.
“It does not happen anywhere in the world and the Nigerian Constitution in Section 2 is very clear that Nigeria is a federation of the federal (central government) and the state. it is not three-tier.
“Anywhere in the world where we have federalism, it is the state or province or region either in India, US, Canada, or Australia. It is now up to the state to determine whether it wants to have 20 counties, or 50 or 200 local authorities based on its own local needs.”
