From Okey Sampson, Umuahia
National President of National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE), Dambali Akeem, has carpeted state governors for meddling in the affairs of local governments and pilfering their funds.
Akeem, who spoke in Aba, Abia State where he monitored the congress of the state’s chapter of NULGE, however, said the only exception were Governors Nyesom Wike of Rivers State and Mohammad Badaru Abubarkar of Jigawa State.
Frowning at the grip governors have over local governments and their funds, he recalled there was approval of local government autonomy by the outgoing regime, stating that what the in-coming administration needed was to leverage on it.
“Even without constitutional amendment, a progressive-minded government must be able to realise that local government is the most strategic, the closest and the most important for the people of the grassroots.”
The NULGE national president condemned the appointment of transition committee (TC) members to run the affairs of councils, saying it was criminal.
“It is criminal to have TCs in local governments, it is not acceptable, it is inhuman. Those appointing TCs were elected and they deny others to be elected too. This is selfish motive aimed at pilfering local government funds, they only appoint their cronies that will help them syphon local government funds. This has been ruled against by competent court of jurisdiction and whoever that is still involved in that should be sent to jail.”
On the conduct of NULGE election in Abia which was said to have been done outside constitutional time frame, Akeem said: “Some people are questioning the timing of the election, saying it was not held within 90 days to the expiration of their tenure.
“But we say we acted within the ambits of the constitution of NULGE. The constitution said election should be conducted within 90 days or any other time decided by the