Over unification killing LGs -Masari

ANDY ASEMOTA, Katsina

The Governor of Katsina State, Aminu Bello Masari, has condemned the “over unification” of local government system across the country, indicating that the nature of the structure of the local governance negates prudent management and sustainable development.

Addressing Senior executive course 44 participants of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) on study tour of the state in Katsina, Gov Masari decried “the way and manner the local councils are structured,” alleging that this informed the mis – governance of the local governments.

Speaking on the theme of the current course: “State of local governments,” he expressed concern that many local councils weren’t getting enough funds from the federation account to pay their workers salaries.

Querying the uniformity of salaries of the local leadership and workforce nationwide, he advocated constitution amendment to address this and other peculiarities of the local administration.

Masari said: “When you say local administration, it should really be local – addressing the peculiarities on the basis of revenue that the localities are able to generate.”

He added: “This issue of uniformity places the chairmen of rich local governments on the same basis with the chairmen of local governments that cannot even generate enough revenue to pay themselves.

“This over unification is killing the local governments; everybody should be allowed to cut his coat according to his size.”

He asked rhetorically, “we have 34 local governments in Katsina State, how many of them are getting enough from the federation account to pay even salaries not to talk of development in education, sanitation, drainage, feeder roads and housing?”

On the issue of how the people in rural communities were living, viz a viz, impact of the councils, he disclosed that the Social Investment Programmes of the Federal Government, local councils, had impacted positively on many communities.

His words: “In Katsina State, the pilot scheme (of Direct Cash Transfer) which involves 12 local governments with 143,000 house holds that are getting N10,000 every two months and it is all over the country.”

For a better society