The Association of Local Government of Nigeria in Delta State has identified fiscal restructuring and devolution of Federal Government powers as panacea to the survival of local governments in the country.
Ikpokpo, who doubles as the Chairman, Isoko South Local Government in the state, stated this while reacting to a recent protest by the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees demanding autonomy of the third tier of the government.
He said that the various unions demanding the LG autonomy should rather join ALGON in its call for urgent fiscal restructuring of the country.
He said that the declining fortunes of local governments in Nigeria was due to the disproportionate sharing formula of the country’s revenue.
According to him, the greatest challenge facing the third tier of government is the meagre 20 per cent share of Federal Allocation to the 774 local governments in Nigeria.
Ikpokpo said: “This is grossly inadequate to meet the councils’ first line charge, which is the payment of salaries, not to talk of provision of basic social amenities at the grassroots.”
He said that granting autonomy to the LGs would not achieve the desired results without adequate revenue adjustment and conscious constitutional amendment towards reducing the powers at the centre.
Ikpokpo emphasised that until a conscious effort was made to rejig the local government system in the areas of funding and functions, Nigeria’s yearning for growth and development would remain a mirage.
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