The Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) says nine state governors are diverting local government funds through cronies.
National President of NULGE, Hakeem Ambali, stated this on Friday but did not name the offending governors.
However, the union said, the state governors were contravening a directive issued by the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit in May 2019.
According to the union, the actions of the state governors were not only despicable but hindering development at the grassroots.
NULGE, therefore, issued a 30-day ultimatum for such governors to desist from such acts or it would have no other choice but to shut down the 774 local government areas in the country.
Furthermore, the union appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to sign an Executive Order barring any state that fails to conduct local government elections from accessing LG funds.
Some states that have not conducted LG elections despite the expiration of the tenure of the elected officials are: Ogun, Katsina, Anambra, Kwara, Osun and Zamfara.
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The Oyo and Imo state governments sacked elected LG administrations whose tenures were still running and replaced them with caretaker committees.
Edo State also has no elected officials, with the LG administrations being overseen by Heads of Administration.
Ambali said, “About nine state governors are diverting and pilfering local government funds, thereby denying the people at the local government level the right to benefit from social amenities that should be provided by the local government.
“As a matter of urgency, Mr President should sign an executive order preventing any state government that failed to conduct local government election from having access to local government allocations so that even if the money is released to the local government account, it should be for salary payment alone.
“They have to teach them (governors) a lesson; that is why NULGE would continue to be involved in agitation until the actualisation of political and financial autonomy for local governments.
“If we are to get things right in Nigeria, it is time to approve local government autonomy because all these agitations about insecurity, unemployment, lack of belief and hope in the Nigerian nation, leading to agitation for self-determination and disintegration of the country is borne out of the greed of most of those who claim to be political elite, who corner local government resources and misappropriate them.”
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