NULGE Accuses Two Southwest Governors Over LG Autonomy

Two APC governors, Rotimi Akeredolu and Kayode Fayemi, have been accused of working against the passage of the LG autonomy bill.
The accusation was made on Wednesday, March 23, by the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE).

The union called on President Muhammadu Buhari and the ruling party, All Progressive Congress to intervene on the matter.

The union’s president, Ambali Olatunji, in a press conference in Abuja on Wednesday, noted that concerted efforts by some persons to keep the local government system crippled can be equated to the continuity of banditry, insurgency, ethnic agitations, and other vices across Nigeria.

Olatunji said, “It has been discovered that the ruling party, under the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari, meant well for Nigeria with members of the National Assembly condemning theft and criminality done to the local governments. The sudden outburst of governors Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State and Rotimi Akeredolu against local government autonomy is unpatriotic, self-serving, and anti-people.
“We advise that the ruling party should concentrate on providing the dividends of democracy and good governance to the people and offsetting backlogs of unpaid salaries of which the funds have yet to be accounted for in their states. The neglect of rural roads in these two states should be their utmost concern, where kidnapping and insecurity have become the order of the day.”

Describing the position of Akeredolu and Fayemi as “unpatriotic, self-serving and anti-people”, Olatunji, however, commended their colleagues like Governors Nyesom Wike (Rivers), Abubakar Badaru (Jigawa), and some others who are backing local government autonomy.