The national coordinator of the concerned stakeholders within the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kwara State, Alhaji Mohammad Mariam-Alhassan, has called on the federal government to protect local government administration from potential harm by granting it full autonomy. He expressed his concerns during a conversation with journalists in Ilorin.
Alleging that governance at the local government level in Kwara State has been controlled by a select few individuals through the Transition Implementation Committee (TIC) arrangement.
Alhaji Mariam-Alhassan appealed to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to dissolve what he described as the illegally constituted TIC arrangement imposed by the state government for over four years.
He argued that this arrangement goes against the provisions of Section 7(1) and Section 14(1) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as amended.
Highlighting the constitutional requirement for a fixed tenure period for duly elected Executive Council members, Alhaji Mariam-Alhassan emphasized the need for adherence to democratic principles.
He urged President Tinubu to intervene and ensure the establishment of constitutionally and democratically elected council executives.
Furthermore, Alhaji Mariam-Alhassan requested that the President instruct the Federal and Fiscal Mobilization Commission to halt the monthly release of statutory revenue allocations to all 16 local government areas in Kwara State.
He insisted that these funds should only be disbursed once constitutionally elected council executives are in place, aligning with the stipulations of the constitution.
In essence, the coordinator is advocating for the protection of local government autonomy, dissolution of the TIC arrangement, adherence to constitutional provisions, and the withholding of statutory revenues until democratically elected council executives are established.
