BY Kunle Daramola
A coalition of civil society organisations (CSOs) has called on the Lagos state house of assembly not to interfere in the affairs relating to Alimosho LGA.
On Monday, the Lagos assembly suspended Jelili Sulaimon, chair of Alimosho LGA, for “non-compliance, defiance and unyielding attitude.”
The house announced at the October 7 plenary that the suspension was indefinite and would take effect immediately.
On Thursday, a coalition, comprised of the Human Rights Monitoring Agenda (HURMA); Campaign Against Impunity; Center for Economics and Human Rights Advancement and Ideal Society Advocacy Group, said the assembly should embrace the ruling of the supreme court and ensure its effective implementation.
Isiak Buna, executive director of HURMA, who spoke for the coalition, said the assembly should stop interfering in the affairs of LGAs, adding that Alimosho should be free from undue interference and control from higher levels of government.
“Alimosho and all other local governments in the state are not appendages of the state assembly. They are independent tiers of government enshrined in our constitution and recently authoritatively pronounced by Nigeria’s highest court,” he said.
“We call on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, as well as all governors and political leaders, to ensure that the autonomy secured through the ruling of the supreme court is implemented in full. It is imperative that all local government officials are empowered to perform their duties effectively, free from undue interference and control from higher levels of government.
“Political leaders, particularly the leadership of state assemblies and the governors with vested interests, must recognize that local governments are not mere extensions of state authority, but rather autonomous entities that are vital to fostering development, enhancing accountability, and improving service delivery to our citizens.
“We emphasize that respecting local government autonomy is not only a legal obligation but also a moral imperative that contributes to national cohesion and development as well as the enhancement of fiscal federalism that we have clamoured for decades.”
On July 11, the supreme court affirmed the financial autonomy of 774 local governments in the country when it ruled that the federal government should henceforth pay allocations directly to local government councils from the federation account.
The court said states are mandated to ensure that their local government councils are democratically elected, and that governors cannot use their powers to dissolve democratically elected local government councils.
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