Ahead of September Local Council Election in Kwara

Sulaiman Onimago

The polity is having a lot of conversations ahead of the local government election in the State, and it is good for democracy. Although, there are issues being debated, one being the capacity of Councils to administer independently. No other entity has been at the forefront of this conversation more than the State Government and the ruling party. Rightly so, they have cause to be concerned, as Kwara had one of the longest debates on Councils since 2019. From the illegal sacking of Chairmen to the constitution of TICs and expenditures, Kwara has debated everything from all angles with differing perspectives.

Writers, analysts, government, civil societies, political parties, and individuals have strong positions on how this tier of government should run and operate, and each side holds its view supreme. The ruling party has not conceded its concerns, nor have civil societies or the opposition. The most recent development is the publication by the Chief Press Secretary to the Kwara State Government.

While the conversation has been long, the issues are fresh and can be recollected without mistake, the most prominent being the manner in which local council funds were expended, interference by the State Government, and discussions around corruption, mismanagement, and misallocation of these finances. No state has had more growing concern about local councils than Kwara State since 2019.

Here we are, some months ago, the Supreme Court gave a landmark judgment on local government financial autonomy. While many retained their opinions and perspectives, which are still present to this day, the decision is final and leaves little choice for the State Government. This was rightly expressed by Ajakaye, who, although evaluated the consequences of the judgment and projecting the State Government’s fears, ended up indicating that – what will follow the Supreme Court’s coercion is total abandonment by the State Government. The question is, who are they trying to teach a lesson— the Federal Government or the citizens of the State? We remain curious until after the election.

You see, in a federal system, all tiers of government must push for what is obtainable. Therefore, nothing is final, and much depends on local councils’ ability to mobilize and rally themselves through ALGON to put the State Government in its place accordingly. States must adjust and concede activities to local councils in areas explicitly permitted by the constitution, and they can drag the State to court on any issue or dispute. Therefore, questions about their capacity are important, but at the same time, it is funny coming from Kwara State’s CPS.

It is funny because despite an imminent election and a clear judgment from the Supreme Court, the State Government is still attempting to recruit for the local councils. Yet, there are questions about their financial position by the State Government, blaming it entirely on recurrent expenditures and overhead costs. Sadly, it is the local governments that can purge themselves of wastages and leakages, not the State Government. Questions about where to raise revenues are good, one of the ways to do that is by regaining their core mandate, expansion of tax net by blocking leakages, adoption of cutting edge technology. They can obtain a POS for collections, deposited directly to their account with Central Bank, Abuja FCDA did this with the ‘park-n-pay’ policy, except for days there is no network, you can pay manually.

Part of the issues is the CPS telling the people local councils financial position, whereas councils are meant to present an account of their capacity to people by themselves, not the State Government assisting them in projecting it, which is what Ajakaye did. Has any local government said or claimed it cannot construct a Trunk-C road, PHC, or a primary school yet? It is still from elements within the State Government that are parroting this. Every government institution is expected to present progress and challenges report to the public, it is a standard for public sector accounting and administration, how will Ajakaye understand this, when the practice has never been present in the Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq led government?

The Supreme Court ruled on allocation; it didn’t expel the need for deep collaboration and beneficial partnership, bailout – between the councils and the State Government to deliver dividends of democracy to its people. Therefore, the things done on behalf of the local governments— the Supreme Court simply wants them to put pen to paper themselves. It is not dismissing the challenges they are facing or will still face, they are not new. It is to ensure no obstruction to accountability and transparency on funds and allocations. Thus, if the State is currently assisting with shortfalls and deficits, does the Supreme Court judgment rob them of the opportunity to continue to do so for struggling councils?

The publication by the CPS is nothing but a crystal warning of abandonment after the elections. As much as the State’s allocation has increased, so has the council’s allocation. If we go by what the CPS is saying, how is there still a shortfall in recurrent expenditures despite increased revenue, where did the increase go since they are still paying the N30,000 minimum wage?

Just as States coordinate themselves, it is expected that local governments coordinate themselves as well in pushing forward with their mandate. It is a federal system, and each tier possesses the capacity to advocate for what it considers obtainable within the system. If councils will struggle with the payment of a new minimum wage, they can make their case to the Federal Government as a tier of government—there is nothing mysterious in a federal arrangement. The role of supervision will be retained by the State via its Assembly.

For example, I believe councils must register their advocacy strongly for the total absorption of primary to secondary education in Nigeria, and States must advocate for the total takeover of tertiary institutions domiciled in their States. The Federal Government must learn to be a wallet and custodian, not a driver.

We can go on and on, but the challenges aren’t new. Projecting that they will be stranded with their autonomy is not the way to go; it is rather a signal of irresponsibility from the State Government. The issues that led to the Supreme Court case weren’t shortfalls or deficits but a lack of accountability and transparency and the refusal of the State Government to organize elections for local councils. Nobody can independently say what goes in and out in terms of finances from local councils. Those were the issues that got us to this point, and Kwara State had a front seat in this regard.

The capacity to stand or not stand will be defined by the councils and the capacity of their management, and they must even push for their own civil service commission and appoint standard Permanent Secretaries to assist with administration, respectively. Those are the kind of discussions and frameworks we should be having. Currently, the State Government and Ajakaye should keep their worries; there are more progressive things and discussions to worry about.

Finance is one thing; States conceding and returning stated local councils’ roles is also part of progressive issues to worry about—on revenue collection, economic planning, their right to license, waste management, registration of houses and tenancy, and using them as a vehicle for driving agricultural interventions. Those are the things to worry about; those are the kinds of progressive discussions that should be taking place.

Sulaiman Onimago writes from Ilorin, kwara State