The National Coalition for Progressives, NCP, has pledged its support for the actualisation of financial autonomy for local governments, state legislature and the Judiciary in Nigeria.
The National Coordinator of NCP, Barrister Idrees Gambo stated this in an exclusive interview with WikkiTimes in Bauchi on Monday.
He said governors have masterminded how to evade granting autonomy to the judiciary and legislature over the years to suit and enable them to pursue their personal interests.
He said that as governors pursue their comforts, the overall interest of the Nigerian populace which ought to be the supreme agenda for government at all levels of governance has continued to suffer.
The Coordinator added that governors have succeeded in muscling the remaining tiers of government to suit their corrupt political gains.
“They have succeeded in scuttling local governments and the legislatures are also supposed to be an independent arm of government so also the executive. They have succeeded in muscling the two tiers of government and the other tier is already in their pockets.
“We feel that this should not continue and we must lend our voices to that,” he said.
He said that the NCP will engage politicians especially during elections to emphasis the need to grant autonomy to LGs, judiciary, and legislature more than infrastructures that oftentimes political office holders felt are dearer to the people than strengthening the system.
The Coordinator further explains that when the system is strong, it is only then it can hold anyone accountable for their actions or inactions.
“We will task them on this issue. This the fundamental issue that we should be discussing during elections not to be discussing some trivial issues like roads. When the system is not strengthened, the issue of road and water which have the main concentration of individuals during elections since independence, it is high time we move away from that and strengthen the institutions.
“Let the institutions be very strong so that they can hold anybody to question but where individuals are stronger than the system, then certainly there is going to be a problem”, he maintained.
He said that the NCP is fully in support of tomorrow’s planned industrial action of the Judicial Staff Union of Nigeria, JUSUN, adding that when NCP past its present formative stage, the coalition will engage governors of the 36 states of the federation in litigations to compel them to sanction vital reforms such as granting autonomy for LGs, judiciary, and legislature.
