ABUJA – Mr Ibrahim Khalil, the President of the National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE), has accused some governors of hijacking local government administration in their states.
Khalil told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Abuja that those governors did that by their refusal to conduct elections in the respective council areas.
The NULGE president, who led members of the union to the May Day celebration in Abuja, said the action had created a wide gap between government and people at the grassroots.
He said “look at what is happening, the local government system is being bastardised; the 1999 constitution, Section 7 guarantees a democratic local government representative.
“Unfortunately, the local government is being bastardised as elections are not being conducted in of some and allocation to such councils from the federation account erationare not being released.
“A governor of a state may sit for three or four years and exhaust his or her tenure without conducting a single local government election and yet the constitution guarantees it.
“Does that mean that a governor is above the constitution? How can we have peace? The absence of leadership at that level creates problems for us.”
Khalil said that the widening gap between government and the people at the grassroots was partly to blame for the emergence of various militia groups.
“They (people) do not have anybody to complain to, anybody to rush to in emergency situations; you have Boko Haram, you have kidnappers everywhere, you have gangs of armed robbers,’’ he said.
According to him, if people are taken care of in their locality, nobody will be forced to rush to Abuja and the other big cities.
The NULGE boss also blamed politicians for the current security challenge in the country, saying “I always push it to political leadership because they determine what this country will be.
“They must check themselves and not pay lip service to the welfare of the people; they have to change their attitude; they must be committed, just and honest.
“Inclusiveness is the issue; we must have an all inclusive government but unfortunately, these politicians formed themselves into a clique.
“If you do not belong you cannot be,’’ he said.
Khalil, however, urged the Federal Government to be pragmatic in dealing with the insurgency in the North East.
He stressed that it was squarely government’s responsibility to protect lives and property of all citizens. (NAN)