Former Governor of Cross River State, Donald Duke said the recent judgment by the Supreme Court on the autonomy of local government can only be effective if the constitution is amended to suit that purpose.
Duke said the federal government is not more responsible than the states, adding that since the constitution says local government elections must be conducted by states, then the third tier of government still remains within states purview.
Speaking exclusively at the sideline of the three-day stakeholders summit by the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, in Port Harcourt, yesterday, the former governor said “I have my reservations about the Supreme Court judgment. I think for the judgment to be effective, we need a constitutional amendment.
“Is the local government a federating unit? We are going to operate true federalism. The local government should be guided by the laws, not by the federal government because it is a creation of the state. The constitution talks about the responsibilities of the federal and state governments. It does not talk about the responsibilities of the local government.
“We are not saying that there should be no local government, of course, there will be one but it will be guided by the state. The problem they are trying to avoid is to give full autonomy to states. We also know that the federal government is not even more responsible than the states. Don’t think you are better than the other one.
“Whatever you want to achieve, amend the constitution appropriately to suit it. If you want local government autonomy and at the same time, you say the governor is the chief executive and in charge of the security of the state, there cannot be that kind of autonomy. They have to be responsible to the superior organ and that is the House of Assembly”, he said.
Duke noted that whatever government is set to achieve, it must be tidied. “Well, that is the Supreme Court. It is like the Supreme Court of the United States of America that gave absolute immunity to Donald Trump about whatever he did while in office. So if he killed someone while in office what happens?”
He recalled that when former President Olusegun Obasanjo withheld the resources of Lagos State, it was based on this because Bola Tinubu, then the Lagos State Governor, had created several development areas not recognised by the constitution.
“He (Tinubu) went to court. But he is doing the same thing now. The constitution even said that local government elections are carried out by the state electoral commission. In other words, they are still within the purview of the state. Those conflicts have to be dealt with”, he concluded.
