State-LG joint account: NULGE urges Buhari to ignore govs petition over NFIU

THE Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE), has called on President Muhamadu  Buhari to ignore the petition made to him by the Governors Forum (GF) over the guidelines issued by the Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), on the handling of funds from the federation account meant for local government councils in the country.

The National Executive Council (NEC) of NULGE commended President Buhari for the courage to come out with the guidelines issued by the NFIU, and pleaded with him not to yield to the governor’s pressure to reverse the policy.

In a letter written by NULGE to President Buhari and signed by its President, Comrade Ibrahim Khaleel, the union said the guidelines from the NFIU is a bold step in the right direction “to end the unconscionable financial recklessness by governors feasting on funds meant for the 774 local government councils in the country.”

The statement read: “Before now, as Your Excellency is aware, local government funds sent to the joint state-local government account have been subjected to the most unimaginable abuse by state governors across the federation. The governors almost without exception have since 2003 turned this account into a source of ‘slush fund’, from which they routinely withdraw funds without any form of accountability or restraint.

“We understand from the media that the Governors Forum under its outgoing Chairman, Governor Abdulaziz Yari of Zamfara State, had in petition to your Excellency expressed anger and dismay over the patriotic action of the NFIU, and accused the latter of attempting to dabble into a matter that it claimed was beyond its mandate.

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“As we understand it, the NFIU guideline makes it mandatory for all local council allocations to go straight into their respective bank accounts,after being paid into the joint account before funds could be drawn from them;and also that all expenses and expenditure above a maximum of half a million (N500,000) daily must be undertaken by e-transfers and cheques. Against the background of what we know about the operations of the state-local government joint account, the measures outlined in the NFIU’s guidelines will go a long way in checkmating the practices of governors who hide behind their immunity while in office to commit all manners of atrocities in the misuse of funds meant for grassroots developments across the federation.

For us in the Local Government system, who have been victims of the financial maladministration and financial recklessness by state governors, nothing in the guideline indicate that the federal authority is desirous of encroaching the duties and responsibilities of any of the two other tiers of government-states and local government, in the tripod that makes up the federation.

“We do not see how ensuring that funds meant for local government councils reaches the intended destination offend in any way the provisions of section 162 of the constitution and its various subsections.

“Contrary to the assertion by the outgoing Chairman of the governors forum that the NFIU guidelines is stoking mischief and also deliberately seeking to cause disaffection, chaos and overheat the polity, our considered opinion is that it is Governors who have been ganging up to prevent the wishes of the people of Nigeria to guaranteed financial and administrative autonomy for the third tier of our federal system that have been in the habit of doing mischief and heating up the political space by their crude actions.

“Your Excellency will recall how the governors had ganged up to frustrate previous attempts by the National Assembly to grant financial and administrative autonomy to the local government system. The latest effort of the outgoing eighth National Assembly was the most blatant and crude.

“When it became obvious that the two amendments- Bill numbers five and six were coasting home to victory to amendment section 162 of the Constitution (Bill no. 5), after nine State Houses of Assembly out of 12, had voted in favour of both Bills, the governors summoned a meeting with the speakers forum, offered state legislature financial autonomy in exchange for frustrating voting in the remaining Houses of Assembly.

“This was what happened, and we are ending the life of the 8th National Assembly without the votes on the two bills being conclusively voted on. Bill No. 6 was meant to strengthen local governments by guaranteeing their democratic existence, funding and security of tenure of elected local government officers.”

“We call on Your Excellency to ignore the petition of the governors, who are behaving like wounded lions, because they see the source of funds which they have habitually misused and abused drying up. Your standing firm with the downtrodden people in the grassroots, who have endured the avariciousness of the governors over the years, will send the desired message to all that you will consolidate and win the battle against corruption, which is perhaps why Your Excellency has such a cult-like following amongst the poor in this country.

“If the guidelines will have any detrimental effect on the operations of the Basic Universal Education programme, or the primary health care or the payment of primary school teachers as governor Yari is claiming, surely, the NFIU guidelines have provisions for any adverse effect to be streamlined with the affected agency or agencies.

“We members of the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees in all the 774 local government councils across the country wish to once again commend your government for taking the bold step to end the impunity in this critical segment of our governance structure. We stand by you, Mr President.”