Professor Benjamin Okaba, President of the Ijaw National Congress, INC, has called for the amendment of the 1999 Constitution to give room for the local government active participation in governance as a measure to curb insecurity as well as enthrone good governance at the grassroots level.

The INC President Okaba made his position on insecurity in the country known in a paper presented at a national discourse organised by the House of Representatives on Nigeria's security challenges and good governance at the local government level, which held at the Abuja Continental Hotel in the Federal Capital Territory Abuja on May 27, 2024.

Prof. Okaba, in his presentation, while comparing communal administration in pre-colonial Nigeria to the modern system of governance, noted that the former which utilised family heads, village heads, and oracles in the south, while Islamic law held sway in the north, thrived more because they were active and closer to the people.

He further noted that the lack of good governance as well as absence of credible elections at the LG level have both created a fertile ground for insecurity and communal crisis to thrive, just as he faulted the concentration of too much security infrastructure on the federal government in the guise of national security and the placing of the LG under the state government as detrimental to the LG.

"One of the cardinal principles of good governance is that of credible elections. Indeed once credible elections is guaranteed at the local government level, the foundation for good governance would have been laid paving way for peace and security. In Nigeria today, especially at the local government level credible elections appears to be an illusion," Prof. Okaba bemoaned.

Speaking further on local government in Nigeria, he said, "Section 7 subsection 1 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) guarantees the existence of local government in Nigeria but the same Constitution hinders the autonomy of the local government. The Constitution places the local government under the state government subsection 5 of the Section when it states that 'the House of Assembly of a State shall make provisions for statutory allocation of public revenue to local government councils within the State'.

"This does not only place the financial autonomy of the local government under the state but also its political independence. This makes local government executive and legislative houses dance to the whims and caprices of not only the chief executive of State but also that of the State House of Assembly.

"It has also been argued that, since the return of democracy in the 4th Republic in 1999, the local government system has been neglected by the federal and state governments through the Joint Account System where local governments is now at the mercy of states. The implementation of the Joint Account has been abused and become problematic as various state governments have turned local government into money making venture," the INC President revealed.

In his recommendation, the INC President called for the amendment of the "1999 Constitution to allow for effective local government administration" and that "Issues such as joint state and local government account must be abolished".

Other recommendations are: "To ensure credible elections, state governments should not conduct elections into local government positions; local government should have a bit of control on local policing; citizens who reside or are from the various local government areas should as of right demand good governance from local government councils; and State Governors and Houses of Assembly should allow local government autonomy to scale through the constitutional amendment process."

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