Babatope Okeowo 
…Seeks Amendment To Constitution
The Governorship candidate of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) in the November 16 governorship election in Ondo State, Hon Olugbenga Edema has hailed the Supreme Court Judgment that granted autonomy to 774 Local Government Areas in the country.
However, Edema said there is a need for the Federal Government to send amendments to the National Assembly to give more responsibilities to the Local Government administrators in the country if the judgment would be implementable.
The Supreme Court had declared that henceforth all Local Government Area allocations should be paid directly into their accounts.
Justice Emmanuel Agim, who read the lead judgment outlawed the Joint Allocation Account Committee (JAAC) through which all funds to local governments are paid to the state government accounts.
Speaking on the judgment, Edema in a statement he signed said the decision of the Supreme Court was commendable as it would grant autonomy to the local governments in the country.
However, he said the fourth schedule of the 1999 constitution should be amended to give the local governments the power to raise and collect revenue which the state governments have harnessed for themselves.
Edema said ” As commendable as the Supreme Court’s judgment is, it has not ended the controversy over the local government autonomy. In Ondo State, the 18 local governments have been denied the opportunity to collect rates in the markets.
“The state government has taken over the collection of cemetery rate, tenement rate, licensing, regulation, and control of the sale of liquor for the past eight years.”
Edema advised President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to send amendments to the National Assembly to correct the lapses created by the Supreme Court judgment and ensure that local governments work for the benefit of the citizens.
