A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Abia State, Prince Paul Ikonne, has alleged that Governor Alex Otti is among governors openly disregarding President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s directive on the proper functioning of local government administrations across the country.
Ikonne claimed that the Abia governor was deliberately taking steps to weaken local government autonomy by manipulating state laws to retain control over council funds.
He accused Governor Otti of “trying to amend, and find a way to create new laws in the state that will empower him to continue using the Local Government funds at will.”
The APC chieftain’s remarks followed concerns raised by President Tinubu at the recent National Executive Council (NEC) meeting of the party, where the President expressed displeasure over governors’ failure to comply with the Supreme Court judgment granting financial autonomy to local governments.
At the meeting, President Tinubu reportedly warned governors of possible executive action, declaring, “I have the knife and I have the yam.”
Speaking during an interview on Television Continental (TVC)’s popular programme Politics Tonight, Ikonne, who is the immediate-past Executive Secretary of the National Agricultural Land Development Authority (NALDA), contrasted the situation in Abia with what obtains in Lagos State.
“In Lagos state, you see local government building health centers, building schools. They are also council elected chairmen and councillors. So, the issue of knowing them may not be the issue, but the governor who should know that local government is another tier of government that is closer to the people, closer to the farmers, closer to the less privileged, closer to the widows, closer to the disabled people.
“But in some other states, like in Abia state for example, the governor of Abia state is trying to amend the laws, and find a way to create new laws that will empower him to continue using the local government funds at will, at his pleasure.”
Ikonne maintained that local government remains a critical tier of government that should not be undermined.
“You can see how passionate Mr. President is in trying to drive the point that governors should let local government handle their funds and implement projects that will impact positively the lives of people. You know, it was really great and interesting to see Mr. President address that issue because it was looking like the President was not prepared to confront these powerful governors who are also key political allies.”
Commending President Tinubu for what he described as sincerity, Ikonne warned against politicising the President’s stance.
“Anybody playing politics with Mr. President’s statement is being misleading. If the President doesn’t speak to his party members, the governors that are within his party, who will he speak to? How well does this expose a deeper crisis of constitutional obedience among governors? It’s really a challenge.”
The APC chieftain further cited examples of states where councils were independently executing projects.
“In Enugu state, local governments are building schools, building hospitals. Lagos State is an example also. Lagos State local government council chairmen are also implementing projects. But there are states that are not. Where I come from, we must have to look at it from both sides to understand the weight of not allowing local government to have the autonomy.
“Abia state local government, 17 local governments receive an average of 7 to 8 billion Naira every month. Now, people are crying that there are hardships out there as a result of subsidy removal. But the President makes sure that money goes back to the local government. Money that would have cushioned the effect if these funds are properly utilized. If facilities are provided in the state at the local government level. If infrastructures are in place, hospitals, schools are put in place by the local government authorities. But they don’t see their funds.
“My local government, for example, receives an average of 400 to 500 million every month but the local government chairman gets 8 million naira only from the government,” Ikonne stated.
He challenged the Alex Otti-led administration to publicly account for how local government funds were utilised in the state.
“One would have imagined that being a Labour Party, that they would have used this as an example to show what they would do. But unfortunately, if you get to Abia state, you find out why Abians, Nigerians in general, will not let anything Labour come up again. Because the party in power in Abia state have ruined the local government system, in the sense that you cannot lay hands on any single project executed by the local government authority.”
Ikonne expressed optimism that APC governors who have yet to comply with President Tinubu’s directive would align with it following the NEC meeting.
“But I’m very optimistic that none of them (Governors) will disobey the president.”
Addressing claims that the APC was using federal influence to pressure opposition governors into joining the party, Ikonne dismissed the allegation.
“There are rumours that the man in Abia, Alex Otti wants to join APC. Has he been coaxed?
“So if he’s running around, clear indication some of them want to go back to the office. So they see that APC is taking control. In Abia today, 95% of PDP structure have collapsed into APC. So why wouldn’t the governor start running from pillar to post? Because he knows that nobody…, the APC has the population to vote and win elections.”
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