Owerri- The Coalition of South East Youth Leaders, COSEYL, on Thursday commended the Supreme Court verdict granting autonomy to the local government system in Nigeria.According to the group, “The Coalition of South East Youth Leaders, COSEYL, the apex sociopolitical youth group in the South East geopolitical zone commend the Supreme Court of Nigeria for its landmark judgment on Local Government autonomy. The judgement will deepen democratic governance in Nigeria.
“By this judgement, the Supreme Court has returned governance back to the people in line with the vision of the 1999 constitution. All governors should immediately conduct Local Government Elections in accordance to the Supreme Court Judgement and the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. “We call on the National Assembly to amend the constitution to ensure that the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, conduct Local Government elections. The amendments should include that the tenure of LG Chairmen must be 3 years as enshrined in the constitution.”
“We call on the Economic Financial Crime Commission, EFCC, ICPC, NFIU and other anti-crime agencies to monitor all allocations to the local governments to ensure that their funds are being used for the purpose and benefit of the people. “No Local Government Chairman should allow himself to be intimidated by their governor to hand over the people’s money to him. The Chairmen should know that they are only accountable to the people,” he said.