“Let me use this New Year’s message to urge our governors and local council chairpersons to work closely with the central government to seize emerging opportunities in agriculture, livestock, and tax reforms and move our nation forward. I commend governors who have embraced our Compressed Natural Gas initiative by launching CNG-propelled public transport. I also congratulate those who have adopted electric vehicles as part of our national energy mix and transition. The Federal Government will always offer necessary assistance to the states.” – President Bola Tinubu in his January 1, 2025 press statement.
Nigeria’s Constitution established and recognised three arms and three tiers of government. The arms are: Executive, Legislature and Judiciary. The tiers are the Federal, State and Local Governments. There are 11,082 elective political offices in Nigeria. They are as follows: One presidential seat, 36 governorship positions, 109 senatorial seats, 360 House of Representatives positions, 993 State Houses of Assembly seats, 774 local government / Area Council chairmanship seats and 8,809 councillorship positions. Out of these elective offices, only 470 are at the federal level i.e. President, 109 Senators and 360 House of Reps. States have 1,029 namely the 36 governors and 993 State Assembly members while the rest, 9,583 operates at the Local Government levels.
Most times media and civil society beamed their searchlights at the federal government while paying little or no attention to the sub-national governments. Meanwhile, sizeable national resources are spent at the subnational. If not for our warped democracy which has practically centralised governance as if we are under unitary system and not federal, subnational are supposed to be more powerful than the center. Unfortunately, preponderance of governance areas is under the exclusive legislative list while just a handful are under the concurrent and residual lists. Despite removing electricity, railway and correctional services from the exclusive to concurrent legislative lists, 65 items are still under the federal government purview to determine.
Unknown to many Nigerians, items such as education, roads, health, housing, water, agriculture, electricity, prisons, and railways are under the concurrent legislative list where both federal and state governments have jurisdiction to provide these amenities and services. When roads are deplorable, the blame is heaped on the president not minding that these bad roads could be Trunk B road which is under State government or Trunk C road which is under Local Government Authority. Same with Health Services. Many compatriots do not know that Primary Health Centre is under the control of Local Government while General Hospitals are under the State government. Only the Tertiary Hospitals and Federal Medical Centres are under the federal government. Same with schools. There are federal universities, polytechnics and Colleges of Education just as there are state owned ones. Secondary schools are majorly established by State governments while Primary schools are supposed to be established, funded and controlled by the Local Government Areas.
It is noteworthy that President Tinubu’s administration just like his predecessors have been doing a lot to assist the subnational levels. With the removal of subsidies, the federal allocations coming to the subnational levels have significantly increased, In August 2024, President Bola Tinubu said that the Federal Government has released N570 billion to the 36 states of the federation to expand livelihood support to Nigerians. Speaking on Sunday, August 4, 2024 during a national broadcast to Nigerians as a result of the hunger protest embarked upon by the citizens, the president added that while 600,000 nano-businesses have benefitted from the Federal Government’s nano-grants, an additional 400,000 more nano-businesses are expected to benefit. Last year the Federal Government distributed 42,000 metric tonnes of grains through the states to poor Nigerians at no cost to them.
Several other federal government initiatives such as Conditional Cash Transfer to millions of vulnerable Nigerians, Home Grown School Feeding Programme, single interest loan scheme to millions of nano, small and medium as well as large enterprises fertilizer support to farmers, provision of CNG buses to commuters are being done by federal government through the states. It is therefore important to know what the state themselves are doing with their resources. There is no gainsaying that if the three tiers of government work collaboratively on agricultural production, infrastructural development and join hands to fight insecurity, Nigeria will be a better place to live in.
That is why what some state governments are doing in terms of these governance issues are heartwarming. Just last Saturday, January 4, 2025 President Tinubu was in Enugu State to commission projects completed by Governor Peter Mbah. Projects commissioned by the President were the 30 completed and equipped Enugu Smart Green Schools out of 260 under construction across the 260 wards in the state, 60 completed and equipped Type 2 Primary Healthcare Centres out of the 260 under construction across the 260 wards in the state, completed multi-auditorium and multi-functional Enugu International Conference Centre, 90 completed urban roads in Enugu City, and a state-of-the-art Command and Control Centre/150 patrol vehicles fitted with AI-embedded surveillance cameras. It is noteworthy that the president is not in the same party as the governor. While the president is a member of the All Progressives Congress, the governor is a member of the Peoples Democratic Party. Good governance, not reckless partisanship, is needed.
Mention must also be made of the yeoman efforts of Lagos State governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu under whose watch the metro rail of the state has come to fruition. The blue and red rail lines have been commissioned and now in full operation. This transportation option has given Lagosians multichoice of commuting options. You may choose to commute via water, rail or road in Lagos. This ultimately will help to reduce traffic jams that have been synonymous with Lagos. I am excited with what Governor Alex Otti is doing in Abia State. Most heartwarming to me is that 82 percent of his N750.28bn Abia State 2025 budget which he signed on Friday, December 27, 2024 is capital expenditure while a mere 18 percent is recurrent. He was quoted as saying “Our push for infrastructural development is reflected in this budget because, when you allocate over 80 percent to capital expenditure, it speaks to what you want to achieve with infrastructure—things that will outlast all of us”.
In October last year, the Borno State Governor, Babagana Zulum unveiled six projects during his tour to two local government areas of the southern part of the state. The projects unveiled included a 60-classroom Islamic college through which the state government aimed to combat violent extremism and avert young people from being radicalised by terrorist sects. His handling of the unfortunate flooding of Maiduguri last year and the resettlement of internally displaced persons back to their ancestral lands are all commendable. I know many other states are doing well but they need to do more.
Unfortunately, the development in Edo State in the way and manner Governor Monday Okpebholo and the Edo State House of Assembly is treating the 18 Local Governments in the state is reprehensible and heartrending. First, the governor wrote to demand an audit report from the LGAs. When he was ignored because he is acting ultra vires he allegedly petitioned the Edo State House of Assembly who promptly passed a motion suspending the LGA chairmen and the vice-chairmen for two months. This has been roundly condemned by well-meaning Nigerians, including the Attorney General and Minister of Justice. As if that was not enough councilors in these LGAs are now being induced to impeach the suspended councilors. This is unhealthy for our democracy. The governor and the State House of Assembly lack the power to suspend chairmen of councils. While the councilors are vested with the constitutional right to impeach chairmen and vice chairmen, due process ought to be followed. In the extant case of Edo State, rule of law is being flagrantly flouted in handling the local government crises.
X: @jideojong
