Alhaji Isiwele Shehu, the President of the Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria, has called on state governments to allow local government in the country to enjoy autonomy.
Shehu made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Abuja on Tuesday.
He said autonomy for the councils was one of the recommendations of the 2014 National Conference, which should not be ignored.
He said in spite of the impact of local government administration on the people at the grassroots, it had been neglected.
Shehu, who was a delegate to the last national confab, said: “There is a group that is trying to make sure that the 2014 National Conference recommendation is implemented.
“I am happy that one of the Edo governorship candidates promised to make local governments autonomous if he becomes the governor.
“I said at the conference that any governor that ruled for eight years and did not allow local governments to exist was not fair to the people at the grassroots.
“If the Federal Government would allow states to exist, why shouldn’t states allow local governments to exist?”
Shehu said that state governors were more interested in creating local government caretaker committees in spite of the fact that it was not recognized by the constitution.
According to him, if the court says caretaker committee is Illegal, the governors will change the name to interim management committee.
Shehu told those trying to frustrate the implementation of the confab report to desist “in view of the importance of the report to national development”.
He said: “Some people are also throwing spanners; some pressure groups are saying we wasted tax payers’ money.
“This is the problem we are having. If we believe in continuity, we won’t see abandoned projects.
“Any government that comes wants to start its own. The conference report is now in the hands of God.”
On challenges facing the transport sector, Shehu expressed optimism that the present administration would come up with policies that would reposition the sector.
He commended the proposed introduction of speed limiters on vehicles to check the rate of accidents on the road.
He, however, advised that the policy should cut across all motorists except security vehicles.
Follow The Eagle Online Channel on WhatsApp
