SENATE ASKS FG TO WITHHOLD ALLOCATIONS TO LOCAL COUNCILS, NOT DEMOCRATICALLY ELECTED

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The Senate has requested that any local government councils that are not democratically elected have their statutory funds withheld by the federal government.

It was unanimously decided by the upper house that this action would discourage any state governor’s authoritarian inclinations.

Sen. Abba Moro’s motion, which addressed the urgent need to stop Benue State’s elected councils from dissolving democracy, was the impetus for this resolution.

The MPs contended that the Federal Republic of Nigeria’s (as amended) constitution is violated, that caretaker committees should be used in place of elected councils, and that this arrangement is abnormal and undemocratic.

The motion’s seconder, Senator Victor Umeh of the Anambra Senatorial District, bemoaned the issue’s ongoing erosion of Nigeria’s local government structure.

As a result, the Senate denounced the capricious dissolution of locally elected councils in Benue and other federation states.

They pleaded with Governor Hyacinth Alia of Benue State to honour his oath of office, uphold the law, examine the caretaker committees’ constitutions, and restore the elected councils.

The Senate is still debating the broad ideas and merits of the 2024 appropriations measure.