Many Govs Will Go To Jail – Sen. Adeyemi

Chairman Senate Committee on FCT, Senator Smart Adeyemi, has accused state governors of plotting to sabotage the current constitution amendment process so as to cover “their atrocities” and to continue “to enslave” members of the state Houses of Assembly and those in charge of local governments in their states.

Adeyemi, who stated this in a chat with newsmen at the weekend, said two-third of the state’s chief executives would go to jail if the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) would investigate their handling of the funds meant for their states.

He said the governors are kicking against the current constitution amendment process because of the proposals to remove the immunity clause and to grant financial autonomy to state legislatures and local councils as such would eliminate their controls over state apparatuses and expose their atrocities. 

Adeyemi said the governors are also not comfortable with the proposal for the creation of more states because they fear that such would shrink their “empires”.

The lawmaker who accused the governors of siphoning funds meant for local councils to the extent that some of them can no longer pay workers’ salaries or undertake any developmental project, insisted that the constitution must be reworked in a way that would free state legislatures and local councils from the clutches of the governors.

“How can they be against local government autonomy? Sitting on the resources meant for local governments is unconstitutional. State governors siphon these funds to a point that some local governments cannot even pay salary or construct a culvert. If the President can ask the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC)  to investigate the governors, two-third of them will go to jail because what they are doing is a breach of the constitution”, he said.

Alleging that the governors are already fighting against the creation of states and granting of financial autonomy to local councils and state legislatures, Adeyemi said they are doing so for fear of being exposed.

“They (the governors) are opposed to state creation because they believe it will reduce their empires. They are against the removal of immunity clause because they don’t want their atrocities exposed while in office and they are against the autonomy of the state assemblies because they want to enslave them. If we have governors who are progressives, the constitution amendment would be successful.”

He said the proposal for the granting of financial autonomy to state legislatures and local councils are the fundamental aspects of the current amendment process, adding that it is only by so doing that massive development can be guaranteed as it would reduce the control of government and allow the legislature to yield more to the interests and aspirations of the people.

“The fundamental aspect of the constitution amendment is the autonomy. If we cannot get the state assemblies to be autonomous, there will be no development and the standard of living of the people will be static. The governors are already saying that they don’t want it. How can one individual be determining the freedom of a whole state. It is for the media and the civil society to rise up against the governors and allow people to have their freedom.

“The governors are also saying that they don’t want the autonomy of local governments. Were the local governments created by state governors themselves? The local government reform of 1976 was meant to bring governance closer to the people, and subsequent constitution amendments recognised local governments as the third tier of government. The governors are demanding more powers for the states from the federal government, while they are against freedom for another tier of government”, he said.

Source: People’s Daily