Former Minister of Agriculture and ex-National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Audu Ogbeh, has called on the federal government to consider scrapping the local government system if governors continue to interfere with its proper functioning.
Nigeria currently has 774 local government areas, but their effectiveness as the third tier of government has been compromised by controlling governors accused of mismanaging funds meant for local administration.
Recent months have seen increased calls for local government autonomy in Nigeria, with President Bola Tinubu supporting this push. In May, the federal government sued all 36 state governors over alleged mishandling of local government funds.
Speaking on Channels Television’s “Inside Sources with Laolu Akande,” Ogbeh stated, “What I want to say to Nigerians, if we don’t want the local government system, scrap it, if it were allowed to work, it would have been a fantastic system.”
He expressed concern over the disappearance of federal allocations sent to local governments, noting a lack of visible impact on people’s lives. Ogbeh urged the federal government to withhold monthly allocations from states where governors appoint caretaker committees for local government administration.
“I can’t be sending you money that disappears. You don’t repair primary schools, you don’t do anything, the money vanishes and they say there are paying workers, for which work? Strolling around in the morning and drinking palm wine? These are the issues. Those failures are creating dangerous problems for the country,” Ogbeh remarked.
He further emphasized, “Any governor who sets up a caretaker committee should not receive any funds because a caretaker is illegal, by the Supreme Court. Don’t send them cash, deduct their own and keep it.”
Ogbeh, who also serves as Chairman of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), made these statements amid growing concerns about local government effectiveness and financial transparency in Nigeria.
