Major stakeholders in Imo and Abia, including the political class and legal practitioners, have frowned at the governors’ inconsistencies in implementing the Acts
By Reporters
Major stakeholders in Imo and Abia, including the political class and legal practitioners, have frowned at the governors’ inconsistencies in implementing the Acts of the National Assembly (NASS) and amended sections of the Constitution.
The people spoke in separate interviews in a nationwide survey by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), concerning the State Governments’ selective implementation of laws and constitutional amendments.
Some of the recent amendments include the Decentralisation of Power Generation and Distribution, as well as the Local Government and State Assemblies Autonomy.
Contributing, the President-General, Coalition of South East Youth Leaders, Mr Goodluck Ibem, said that a successful implementation of the Local Government and State Assemblies Autonomy ought to involve a separate legislation that allows Local Government councils to have direct control over their funds and administrative matters.
He said: “In Imo, local government autonomy faces serious challenges, such as the withholding of the LG funds by the State Government, political interference, and the lack of capacity at the local level.
“An assessment of how well Imo has implemented this amendment would require an analysis of whether local governments are truly functioning independently and whether they can exercise their powers without undue influence from the State Government,“ he said.
Ibem urged Gov. Hope Uzodimma to “make room for true autonomy by taking necessary measures“.
He also said that legislative oversight functions in Imo had been somewhat hampered by the Assembly’s reliance on executive funding and called for direct legislative funding to the councils.
Also, the Chairman of the Joint National Association of Persons With Disabilities in the state, Mr Chidubem Ekwelem, called for aggressive enforcement, compliance and monitoring to achieve the desired result at the council level.
Ekwelem, a legal practitioner, said that the Local Government chairmen need “serious orientation towards this new normal so as to stand independent and follow the letters of the law to leave a legacy for themselves, their families and generations unborn“.
He, however, commended the governor for not preventing the LG chairmen from exercising their powers as enshrined in the extant laws.
Mr Chibuikem Diala, the Managing Partner, Sustainable Eco6tems Limited, Tourism, Hospitality and Sustainability Development Consulting Firm, said that Imo had not meaningfully implemented the Local Government Autonomy.
“If ‘autonomy’ is to retain its constitutional and democratic essence defined by independent governance, direct funding from the Federation Account, and transparent electoral processes, then the current structure in Imo falls short,“ Diala said.
He also said that the last local government election in the state was widely criticised for alleged irregularities and the lack of transparency, casting doubts on its legitimacy.
According to him, LGAs in Imo still do not receive direct allocations, nor operate independent of the State Government’s control.
“Practically, they function more as administrative extensions of the governor’s office rather than constitutionally recognised third-tier governments,“ he said.
Diala argued that the lack of autonomy had contributed to the erosion of grassroots governance and the inability of LGAs to implement meaningful community-level programmes, thus exacerbating insecurity, poverty, unemployment, and cult-related violence across several communities in the state.
“A functional LGA system should function as a bulwark against these challenges rather than being a bystander,” he said.
On power generation and distribution, Diala said that Imo had made commendable progress in asserting its constitutional authority to manage electricity distribution.
“In 2024, the state enacted its own Electricity Law, established the Imo State Electricity Regulatory Commission, and licensed Orashi Electricity Company to handle electricity generation, transmission, and distribution across all the 27 Local Government Areas,” he said.
He, however, said that it remained unclear whether actual power distribution had commenced.
“So far, there is no verified public report confirming that Orashi has begun to supply electricity to consumers.
“In fact, many communities across the state still experience prolonged darkness, suggesting that while the legal and institutional frameworks are in place, practical implementation is either yet to begin or remains limited,“ Diala said.
In Abia, some stakeholders contended that the annual ritual of Constitutional Amendments, though acceptable, had been marred by the allegedly inflated costs attached to the exercises.
A Lawyer, Mr Ugochukwu Zik, said the amendments were helpful and imperative “because laws are supposed to be organic in a functional society.
“The yearly expenditures are inflated. While lawmaking involves expenditure and are useful, the amounts usually spent on the amendments are inflated and, therefore, excessive.
“The public hearing sessions are needed but they don’t achieve the desired effects because they rarely or minimally influence the decisions of the lawmakers in their lawmaking processes.”
Zik said the alternative to frequent constitutional amendments is “faithful implementation of existing laws, repealing the existing ones and enactment of fresh legislations.”
He described the implementation of laws in Nigeria as very poor, adding that “laws are implemented mainly on the areas where the Government or executive head has special or personal interest.
“States generally are passive about implementing federal laws,” he said.
Zik shares the view of Appadorai, the author of “The Substance of Politics”, who said that laws that do not follow cultural and traditional norms are difficult to sustain.
“Our laws largely do not evolve from our cultural values and worldview, including our system of government.
“We have been culturally ‘imperialised’ to the effect that what we do is simply import whatever we see in Europe or the USA, without due consideration to our reality and cultural value system,” he said.
He admitted that a new constitution could be more helpful because it could create a better framework for good governance structure in the country.
Dr Blessing Nwagba, a former lawmaker in the Abia House of Assembly, said that frequent amendments could be costly and time consuming but they address emerging pressing issues and improve governance.
Nwagba said: “Amendments allow for changing circumstances and adaptability to emerging issues to improve governance.
“However, they have drawbacks in that they could be expensive and time consuming and can create instability and uncertainty in the system, if they are significant.