News

The Guardian From Madu Onuorah, Abuja 19th June 2003 

 

PRESIDENT Olusegun Obasanjo yesterday announced that the Federal Government has set up a high-powered technical committee to review the structure of governance at the local councils. The committee is also mandated to find solutions to the high cost of governance and the prohibitive cost of electioneering campaigns.

Indeed, the President is asking the body to find out whether the local council is desirable at all as a tier of government.

The President, in a national broadcast on the structure of governance also lamented the indiscriminate creation of councils by some state governments. He decried the fragmentation, especially the division of towns and cities into mini-local councils.

Obasanjo said that when the local government reform of 1976 made the councils the third tier of government, "the expectation was that it would act as a catalyst and aid rapid and sustained development at the grassroots levels. However, whatever we have witnessed is the abysmal failure of the local government system. The hope for rapid and sustained development has been a mirage as successive councils have grossly under-performed in almost all the areas of their mandate."

"The resources available which otherwise should be used for development programmes at the grassroots are being used to service bloated elected officials and unproductive bureaucracies," the president lamented

On the high cost of electioneering campaigns, the President, citing his experience in the last elections, said this has attained "disturbing proportions."

"Available reports indicate that public office holders and those canvassing for elective offices become victims of predatory financial pressures from the electorate and various interest groups. Financial inducement to secure votes is against the anti- corruption stance of this administration, especially in view of its corrupting influence on public office holders and/or elected officers who would invariably use their appointments to recoup their outlays during elections."

He advocated an alternative system of funding electioneering campaigns such as through political parties, rather than individuals canvassing for votes.

The new proposal, the president stated, would insulate the individual from the predatory pressures of the electorate and pressure groups.

But with the political parties funding the campaign, this will make the administration of the guidelines for the control and monitoring of campaign funds easier.

The technical committee, consisting of experts drawn from the six-geo-political zones have the following terms of reference:

examine the problem of inefficiency and high cost of governance with a view to reducing cost and wastages at the three tier of government.
review of performance of local governments within the last four years and consider the desirability or otherwise of retaining the local governments as the third tiers of government;
examine the high cost of electioneering campaign in the country, considering among other options, the desirability of whether political parties, rather than individual office seekers, should canvass for votes in elections; and
consider any other matter, which in the opinion of the Technical Committee, are germane to the goal of efficient structure of governance in Nigeria.
The council of state, the President added, in its deliberations yesterday agreed that "these issues are weighty and must be pursued vigorously as they touch on the very important aspect of our national life."

A committee, under the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, he said, has already been set up to implement all the issues raised in his inaugural speech and address to the National Assembly.

Already, issues such as the following are receiving immediate and focused attention. They include

negotiation of graduated wages increase for all federal employees
commencement of monetisation of benefits is for July 1, 2003 for all federal employees at the rates prescribed by law and regulations;
contributory pension scheme to share the burden of pension between worker and employer also starts next month.
Obasanjo said that without generating additional resources, the government cannot meet its financial obligations adding that "we must reduce waste, stop subsidising where it is appropriate and seek other sources of revenue."