The speaker of the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly Rt. Hon. Aniekan Bassey has assured members of the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) of his support to the institutionalized of Local Government Autonomy in Nigeria
The speaker stated this today March 23, 2022, at his residence when members of the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) Uruan branch led by the branch Chairman Comrade Innocent Effiong paid him a solidarity visit to present the Autonomy Charter of demand
Addressing the workers, the speaker said that the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly led by him is already working towards making Local Government Autonomy a reality in Nigeria. In his words” We have started deliberating on some of the issues listed on this document and I am assuring you that Local Government Autonomy is a done deal”
The speaker however raised a concern on how the funds will be handled by individual councils to checkmate mismanagement and forestall a repeat of nonpayment of salaries
“ This autonomy that you people are looking for, remember that the last time we experimented in the state, civil servants were not paid salaries due to mismanagement. I hope you people will be able to manage it this time around to avert a repeat” He inquired.
Presenting the charter, the chairman of NULGE, Uruan branch Comrade Innocent Effiong thanked the speaker for making out time out of his busy schedule to receive and address Local Government workers in his state Constituency within short notice, adding that the gesture has given them a sense of belonging and pride
Comrade Effiong appealed to the speaker to led other members of the State House of Assembly to vote in favour of an all-encompassing Autonomy for the Local Government in Nigeria noting that for Nigeria to work, Local Government Areas must function.
Recall that in 2014 the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly led by Rt. Hon. (Barr.) Onofiok Luke joined other 23 States of the federation (Ondo, Ekiti, Osun, Borno, Yobe, Taraba, Bauchi, Gombe, Kaduna, Kano, Kebbi, Katsina, Sokoto, Zamfara, Rivers, CrossRiver, Bayelsa, Delta, Edo, Enugu, and Imo, etc) to vote against Local Government Autonomy while Oyo, Ogun, Lagos, Ebonyi, Anambra, Adamawa, Nasarawa, Plateau, Niger, Kogi, Benue, Kwara and Abia voted for local government autonomy.
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