The Senate and the House of Representatives have begun a second phase of reviewing the 1999 Constitution. While senators are currently in agreement regarding local government autonomy, they are diametrically opposed to the creation of State Police in all 36 states as well as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

Remember that the Senate declared in a plenary session in May of this year that all 774 local governments in the nation had died and that state governors had embezzled cash meant for Nigeria’s Local Government Councils.

The Senate states that the dream of realising the goals of the local government system has run into difficult realities because successive administrations have frequently reduced local autonomy, curtailed their financial resources, and restricted their ability to make decisions. In addition, corruption scandals and poor management have frequently damaged some local governments’ reputations, which has fuelled public mistrust.

Remember that the 36 governors of the federation were prohibited by the Supreme Court on July 11 from keeping or using cash intended for the 774 Local Government Areas, or LGAs, across the nation.

The supreme court had declared that it is unlawful and unconstitutional for governors to keep receiving and keeping money that their states had allotted to local government units (LGAs).

The Senators’ attempt to prevent the third level of government from collapsing completely as a result of state governors abusing their positions may have something to do with the recent Supreme Court decision and Senate President Godswill Akpabio’s promise that the National Assembly would amend the constitution to grant them complete autonomy.

On Saturday night in Kano, members of the Senate Committee on Constitution Review concluded their two-day retreat discussing the amendments to the 1999 constitution. While they all agreed that local governments should have complete autonomy in the country’s legal document, they had different opinions about state police.

At the forum, senators from the South-East and South-South geopolitical zones spoke in favour of adding more states.

Full autonomy for local governments has long been overdue, according to submissions from the Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele, APC, Ekiti Central; former Senate Leader, Senator Ali Ndume, APC, Borno South; Chairman, Senate Committee on Finance, Senator Sani Musa, APC, Niger East; Senator Abdulfatai Buhari, APC, Oyo North; Osita Izunaso, APC, Imo West; and Ned Nwoko, PDP, Delta North.

On the fringes of the Retreat, which was hosted by the Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre (PLAC) and the Senate Committee on Constitutional Review, the senators delivered remarks.

The third tier of government must become fully independent due to the demands of the current circumstances, according to Bamidele, who addressed the matter and pointed out that the current constitution places the administration of local government under the purview of the state government.

“Our local governments’ independence and autonomy cannot be taken away,” stated the Senate leader. The question of whether local government belongs in the same tier as other levels of government is hotly debated.

“Men are not made for law; law is made for them.” It doesn’t matter what our constitution says; what matters is that we have accepted some facts.

Therefore, some of us in the Senate and National Assembly have approached the topic of local government autonomy from the perspective that we need to support the rulings made by the Supreme Court.

Nothing said by the Supreme Court deviates from our constitution. It was only clarified further by the Supreme Court. As a result, it’s critical that we take every precaution to allay the worry that governors won’t permit local governments to operate by making additional constitutional amendments.

“For example, many stakeholders are worried that there might be a highway to nowhere as long as local government elections are handled by state independent federal commissions.”

The chairman of the Senate Committee on Reparation and Repatriation, Senator Ned Nwoko, expressed his disapproval of local government autonomy, saying that it has practically come to an end and is now only a third tier of government.

Therefore, any reforms that uphold the decisions made by the Supreme Court will contribute to the revival of the goals associated with local government.

“A lot will happen for the better if we have an independent local government where elections are overseen by INEC, for example, and they have their own funding and can manage hospitals, local security, and other issues.”

In his remarks, Senate Committee on Finance Chairman Senator Sani Musa stated, “When you are talking about restructuring, we should be able to give the local governments, the autonomous power to be able to run their administration from the grassroots level so that the impact of governance can reach the grassroots.” Musa also noted that the Supreme Court’s ruling on local government autonomy had sparked the restructuring process.

“When we started in this country, local governments had full autonomy then and they were developing their areas,” Osita Izunaso said in his submission, emphasising that arguments about the possibility of local government chairmen becoming too powerful to the point of impeaching governors if granted full autonomy do not hold water. I support the local government’s complete independence.

“I’m positive it will succeed. Council chairs wouldn’t be able to remove the governors, in my opinion, if LG autonomy existed. I don’t even believe in fear, so it doesn’t surface.

The governors’ constitutional authority is vast. The governor can only be overthrown by the state assembly. There is no authority for the council chairs. Chairmen of councils and governors should confront their

In support of the Senate Leader’s idea that local governments should not form the body that conducts elections for council chairs and councillors, Senator Abdulfatai Buhari stated, “Local government autonomy could only be achieved if their elections are conducted by an independent body.” Should that not be accomplished, states will persist in embezzling their funds using intimidation and coercion.

As the governor, you will answer to me if I merely place you there as the chairman of the local government. However, if I run for office, everyone will be watching me, and you can’t make me give the governor the money until I can prove myself.

“We should remove that portion of Joint Account from the Constitution if we want the Supreme Court’s ruling to stand.

The senators were split on the subject of state police; some believed that the state police would increase security, while others claimed that state governors would use the police to attack political opponents.

Senator Sani Musa, who backed the State Police, declared, “We are going to deal with the issue of State Police, Local Government autonomy this retreat.” However, in the context of what you are discussing, we are actually reforming. The restructure is already being done by us. According to my vision of the ideal restructuring, we ought to be able to grant the LG the independence to manage their affairs at the local level, allowing the influence of government to permeate the community.

When it comes to state police, all of the states in our nation are dealing with some form of insecurity. If we examine this problem and ask ourselves if it is beneficial to us, I think the answer is yes. What are the potential benefits and drawbacks for this nation? In my opinion, we will arrive at a decision that Nigerians will be happy with. Thus, I believe this to be our purpose for being here.

On the other hand, Senator Ali Ndume declared, “I personally oppose state police.” You are calling for the establishment of state police, yet there are already less than 400,000 police officers in the country. Instead, why don’t you raise the number and TEAM (train, equip, arm, and motivate) them? Additionally, follow the United Nations’ policing suggestion. With 230 million people living in Nigeria, we have fewer than 400,000 police officers, 200,000 military personnel, and at most one million paramilitary and security personnel. You claim that we ought to establish a state police, yet we don’t have an army or police reserve.

The formation of new states in their respective geopolitical zones, according to Senators Nwoko and Osita Izunaso, was long overdue.

According to Nwoko, “It is a must to create the state of Anioma; if that is the only state created during this time, I won’t be shocked.”

“The oldest state agitation is for Anioma, which has been going on for almost 50 years.”

Izunaso stated, “The South East Caucus in the National Assembly has as its primary agenda pushing for equity and justice.”

“In order to accommodate other regions of the nation that have six states apiece, we require an extra state in the South East.

It is not good for balance when the South East has five states while other regions have six. I think our counterparts in other zones will understand why we require state assistance.

Bills exist in that context. For example, I have a bill of my own to establish Orlu State. Our colleague has two more legislation that would create two more states. We’re going to take a seat back and align our positions as a zone.