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Shehu Abubakar, president of the Nigerian Union of Local Government Employees, NULGE, Kaduna State chapter, speaks to Chimezie Enyiocha, reporter researcher, on the poor state of development of the local governments. Excerpts:

Newswatch: What is your view on the call for the separation of joint accounts of local governments and states in the country?

Abubakar: As a labour activist and a worker in the local government, I am in total support of local governments having direct funding from the federation account, which will make them autonomous by so doing. That will make them to do the right things they are supposed to be doing. That will further give more openings with regard to checkmating of their activities. Because if you look at the present system, all the time you will hear that local governments are not doing anything, they are stealing public funds, but at the end of the day, there is no proof that local government chairmen are doing that. This is, because they always hide under the umbrella that their money usually comes to the states and not directly to them, and that the state governors usually give them what they wish to give to them. It is not the actual money that comes from the federation account that the state governors give to them.

But by the time their money goes directly to them, they could be checkmated by either the state or even the grassroots people. As an indigene of my local government, I have right to know how the money that is being given to my local government is used for the development of my area. Going by the present system, it is no longer hidden because every month, the Federal Revenue Mobilisation and Fiscal Commission publishes money distributed across the three tiers of government. So it is no longer a secret.

Newswatch: What is your observation on the operations of local government officials in Kaduna State?

Abubakar: Well I am satisfied with the operation of the local governments in Kaduna State. The reason I said so is because as President of NULGE in Kaduna State, I was opportune to be in the real picture of what is happening. I am satisfied with the activities of the local governments in Kaduna State because they are doing the best. Most of our local governments have done a lot of developmental projects despite the meagre amount of money that comes to them at the end of the day as a result of deduction of primary school teachers’ salaries. That is the fundamental problem that we are facing in Kaduna today at the local governments.

The local governments in Kaduna State and the entire country are the ones shouldering the responsibility of payment of salaries of primary school teachers which, going by the constitution of this country, is supposed to be shared between the three tiers of government, federal, state and local government. But unfortunately, the reverse has become the case. The federal and the state governments removed their hands and allowed only the local governments to shoulder the responsibility of paying primary school teachers’ salaries. So, it becomes a kind of burden to the local governments. Let me give an example in Kaduna State, over 65 to 70 percent of local government allocation from the federation account goes to the State Universal Primary Education Board,  SUPEB, for the payment of primary school teachers’ salaries. Just look at it. If 70 percent of their total allocation usually go to SUPEB for the payment of primary school teachers salaries alone, one segment receives 70 percent of the allocation while the remaining 30 percent is shared to the 23 local government areas in the state, how do you expect them to perform? Yet, they are still managing and doing their best.

Newswatch: Most local government officials usually spend much on recurrent expenditure instead of allocating more funds on capital projects. Why is it so?

Abubakar: Going by the law, it is even wrong. You are not supposed to spend on recurrent than on capital expenditure. But necessity makes it compelling for our local governments to spend more on recurrent than the capital. Let me use Kaduna South local government as an example. The salary bill of primary school teachers in Kaduna South has now shot up to N136 million, while they receive about N150 and N170 million as allocation every month. So, after deducting N136 million, they are left every month with what cannot even pay the local government staff salaries.  Even the money is not enough for the recurrent not to talk of the capital expenditure. So, something is wrong with the system.

Newswatch: What is wrong?

Abubakar: Let every segment of government agree and accept to shoulder its responsibility. It is not the responsibility of local governments alone to pay primary school teachers’ salaries. Let the remaining two tiers of government agree to share the responsibility alongside the local governments. If not, I don’t think local governments will survive in the country.

LGs Must Be Financially Autonomous

Abubakar Adebayo Ishola, chairman of Ilorin South local government, speaks with Gbolahan Balogun, senior staff writer, on the problems with local governments in Nigeria. Excerpts:

Newswatch: What is your view about the Local Government Joint Allocation Account? There are claims that governors are using the machinery of the state to short-change council areas and it appears local government chairmen are incapable of doing anything about it.

Ishola: It is difficult to make a general statement about the relationship of states and local government councils because each state and the local governments within those states have peculiar relationships. I know some will complain that there are encumbrances in accessing their funds but the experience in Kwara State in the past nine years or so, has been that there is nothing to be described as encumbrances on local government funds. And I am going to explain. There are two kinds of funds that come to the local governments. One comes on monthly basis: the statutory allocation from the federation. When that one comes, the state contributes 10 percent of its own Internally Generated Revenue, IGR, along with the one that comes from the federal government before the Joint Action Committee, JAC, meeting is held at that level, because by law, local governments are supposed, and they are in fact the ones paying basic education teachers’ salaries. That is taken off from source before the balance is distributed amongst the local governments. What you do with your money is not the business of the state government. Its only business is to ensure that they don’t filter away funds. Then, on a quarterly basis, another fund comes in as excess crude oil fund. By the arrangement in this state, this is essentially for capital projects within the local governments. So, what the state does is to holds this money for them. They say what project they want to do with that money. They send the project proposal to the governor through the Ministry of Local Governments.

Newswatch: Is that the Joint Project Account?

Ishola: No. I will come to that. The proposal is vetted by the ministry and then the governor with his project team scrutinises the figures to ensure that it is not bloated, and that due process has been followed. And then it is approved if it is proven that the project you want to spend the money on is in line with the policy thrust of the state government.

All what we are doing in Kwara State is to ensure that there is synergy between the state and local governments and avoid duplication of efforts since we know that we don’t have money as much as most other states.

The third one that you mentioned- the Joint Project Account is a voluntary contribution of fund. Every local government contributes about three million Naira monthly to this Joint Project Account. There is another six million that we contribute. It is a voluntary thing and it is backed by law. The money is put into a pool. If for some reasons you want projects that are beyond the scope of local councils done in your local government area, you’ll now apply to the governor and say there is a road that needs to be constructed between village A and village B. You’ll now make a request to the governor who finds out whether you have money contributed in your Joint Project Account. If the money is within the scope of the fund, he will now tell you we are sharing the responsibility.

You will contribute 60 percent to the construction of that road while the state government will contribute 40 percent to the project. If it is the state that believes that as part of its own policy, certain projects are known or good for your locality and the budget is so much that the state alone cannot carry it, the governor will call the chairman of the local government and explain: Since we are the one proposing the project, the state government will contribute 60 percent of that project fund while the local government will contribute 40 percent. That is what the joint project account is meant for. It is a voluntary contribution even though it is backed by law to finance projects that otherwise the council would not have the power and resources to finance.

Newswatch: But if you look at what is actually on ground within most local government council areas, these arrangements do not still translate to the figures we hear every month. Do we say that the state is not exercising enough control and monitoring for optimal performance?

Ishola: They are doing more than enough. People overbloat accruals to the local government. The truth is that in states like mine, apart from the states in the South-South, the money coming to the local government is barely enough to pay workers’ salaries. Look at the papers. Look at the figures. This is why the excess crude fund is the only money we know we can use for capital development. Then no matter how small the monthly allocation is, we still contribute to the joint allocation account so that we can finance projects we believe will enhance the living standard of the people.

Newswatch: What is the position of ALGON on the local government autonomy bill being pushed at the National Assembly?

Ishola: Of course, the position of ALGON is that fiscal autonomy is an inherent part of federalism. If we are not pretending that we are running a federal state in Nigeria, then local government should not only be autonomous administratively but also financially. And we believe again too that the question of money allocated to local governments as it were today, is very meagre. The local government is the closest arm of government to the ordinary people. They have the capacity to impact more on the lives of the people than both the state and federal governments. So, it behoves the system that wants development to ensure that the bulk of resources are controlled at the local level. You may say local government chairmen are corrupt- that is what people say, but I want to say that the most corrupt tier today is the federal government. Look at the quantum of money that goes to the federal government. See what they do with the money. I will say this anywhere in the world.

If you are warehousing a million Naira and I am warehousing 10 thousand Naira and with the one million Naira you are warehousing you can not deliver values that is as much as N250, 000 and I with 10 thousand Naira can deliver values for as high as five to seven thousand Naira who is more corrupt between the two of us? This is what Nigerians can see. So, what I am saying is reduce what is going to the federal government and enhance the state and local government allocations. As a matter of fact, my position, personally and as the chairman of ALGON here (and I have even proposed in a national forum) is that the states and local governments need nothing less than 30 percent apiece as allocation.

Let the federal governments control the remaining 40 percent and do whatever they want with it. We should tell ourselves the truth. The truth being that, one: the body that is constitutionally empowered to take care of the needs of the ordinary man on the street needs more money. If you are afraid that the money would be frittered, empower your regulatory and control mechanisms to ensuring that you force them to do what they are supposed to do and those who falter are apprehended within the shortest possible time.

Newswatch: You have painted a rosy and comfortable performance in Kwara local councils.

Ishola: I am saying the truth; I am not painting any picture. I am saying the truth as I see it and it is verifiable.

Newswatch: But a lot of people are still complaining.

Ishola: Unfortunately, a lot of people complain out of ignorance which I will blame partly on information flow management. I think what we need to do is to learn to be more transparent. That is what we do in this local government.