Federal lawmakers elected on the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) platform have rubbished claims by the Labour Party (LP) lawmakers that the Governor Of Anambra State, Charles Soludo, is trying to strip the Local Government Areas in his state of autonomy via an executive bill.
Naijaonpoint reports that the LP National Assembly caucus, led by Senator Tony Nwoye, accused Soludo of a ploy to enact the State and Local Government Joint Account Law, insisting that it is a circumvention of the Supreme Court judgment granting financial autonomy to the third tier of government.
However, APGA lawmakers insisted that the governor was committed to the financial and administrative autonomy of LG Councils.
Speaking via a communique read after a meeting of APGA lawmakers on Saturday evening, the caucus called on their LP counterparts to join hands with Governor Soludo in moving Anambra State forward.
The leader of the APGA caucus in the House of Representatives, Paschal Agbodike, said that the proposed Anambra State Local Government Administration Law, 2024, has been “misinterpreted as an attempt to undermine local government autonomy.”
The communiqué read in part, “Governor Soludo remains committed to ensuring good governance and accountability.
“He is dedicated to enhancing local government autonomy and fostering development and prosperity for all Anambra citizens.
“Contrary to Labour Party lawmakers’ claims, the proposed law does not contradict the Supreme Court judgment on local council financial and administrative autonomy.”
Describing the allegations against Governor Soludo as “baseless and misguided,” Agbodike, who represents Ihiala Federal Constituency, noted that the nation’s extant laws empower states to regulate grassroots administration.
He said, “Section 7 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) unequivocally empowers states to establish, structure, finance, and regulate local government councils.”