Buhari Declares Support for Constitutional Amendment to Separate LGs from State Governments

President Muhammadu Buhari has stated that he will support a constitutional amendment to separate local governments from the stranglehold of state governments.

This was disclosed by Malam Garba Shehu, the President’s Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, as President Buhari received the leadership of the Association of Local Governments in Nigeria (ALGON) on Thursday in Abuja.

The President told the ALGON leadership that the amendment, when carried out, would better the lot of Nigerians at the community level. He stressed that a constitutional amendment was urgently required to clearly define the relationship among the three tiers of government.

“The relationship between the three tiers of government is not a very nice one, especially that between the local governments and the states. “The states feel like they own the local governments if they are of the same party. It is worse if they are not. “This is a very serious constitutional problem and unless there is absolute clarity and transparency, the relationship will continue to be exploited against the interest of the ordinary people of the country.”

President Muhammadu Buhari also advised ALGON executives to hold consultations with their people and lawyers with a view to presenting a bill that would seek constitutional amendment to free the councils from the stranglehold of the states. Adding that  ”this will limit the damage they can do to you. The quicker you do this the better, so that you can help your people much more.”