Professor Benjamin Okaba, President of the Ijaw National Congress (INC), praised the Supreme Court’s decision granting fiscal autonomy to the 774 Local Government Areas (LGAs) in Nigeria. However, he expressed concern over the marginalization of Bayelsa State, which has only eight LGAs, falling short of the constitutional requirement of ten councils for a state.
In an interview with newsmen in Yenagoa, Okaba highlighted the potential for grassroots development due to fiscal autonomy but criticized the current system’s bias towards states with more LGAs. He emphasized that financial autonomy should be accompanied by administrative autonomy to ensure effective governance at the local level.
Okaba noted that LGAs could significantly impact education, healthcare, and infrastructure if given direct allocations and the freedom to manage their budgets. However, he pointed out the disparity in allocations between states like Bayelsa and Kano, which has 44 LGAs. This imbalance, he argued, exacerbates the marginalization of oil-producing regions like Bayelsa.
To address this, Okaba suggested that funds allocated to LGAs should be distributed by state rather than by the number of councils. This approach, he believes, would ensure a fairer distribution of resources and better reflect the constitutional role of states as federating units. He also called for a reconsideration of the system, allowing states to create the number of LGAs they need to ensure equity and fairness in resource allocation.
