There’s nothing wrong with LGs autonomy – Ortom

The governor of Benue State, Samuel Ortom has endorsed the proposed local government autonomy by the National Assembly in the ongoing constitutional amendment.
He, however, maintained that the lawmakers must explain their reasons for proposing the move to Nigerians.

Ortom adopted this position at a workshop organized for stakeholders and management of local government system for effective service delivery and good governance in the state.
He was represented by his deputy, Benson Abounu, at the three-day induction workshop for the newly elected local government officials from the 23 local governments in the state.
The governor described the local government autonomy as a veritable tool for good governance but noted that it must be granted within the confines of the Constitution.

He said: “Well, to the extent that they can provide good governance to the people, there is nothing wrong with granting them autonomy.

“But the autonomy must be granted within the confines of the Constitution and in the wisdom of the members of the National Assembly.
“If they decide that they should be granted full autonomy, of course the nation must be told why. They must give their reasons and changing the Constitution is not an easy thing; you have to ask for the opinion of the public and I do believe that whatever should be done, in order to give correct and adequate governance to the people, ought to be done”, he added.

On his part, the Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Benue State, Abba Yaro, asked the local government chairmen in the state to ensure good governance always.
He said: “The APC manifesto has placed so much premium on accountability, good governance and transparency and I think the way to go is to allow every tier of government some level of independence so that checks and balances can take centre stage. So, it is a welcome development and we are fully behind the amendment”.