Abia State Governor, Alex Otti has said the recently enacted State Local Government (LG) Law aligns with the spirit and objective of the Supreme Court judgment on local government autonomy.
Otti said this on Thursday night during his monthly media parley with newsmen at the Government House, Umuahia, dubbed “Gov. Alex Otti speaks to Abians”.
According to him, laws must be interpreted and implemented in ways that promote effective governance.
He argued that the objective of Abia LG Law focuses on enhancing and not hindering service delivery in the various local government areas of the state.
Otti also said that the state’s new law was designed to ensure that the objectives of the Supreme Court judgment would be practically achievable, without creating dysfunction.
“The Supreme Court judgment has an intention, and the intention of any law is not to ensure a breakdown of service.
“The Supreme Court actually made a law by that judgment and whatever we did with the law we passed was to ensure that the intended objective of that law is achieved,” he said.
He further said that expecting local government councils to handle critical responsibilities, such as the payment of teachers, primary healthcare workers, and managing local security, without state assistance could make some local governments unviable.
“It would be irresponsible for sub-nationals to fold their hands and watch, because local governments make up the state, just like states make up the federation,” he said.
He emphasised that the law was not in conflict with the Supreme Court judgment but seeks to ensure smooth, practical implementation of local government functions.
“What we tried to do is to ensure that it is implementable without creating hitches,” the governor said.
Otti also said that, “in essence, the law aims to improve the efficiency of governance at the grassroots level and effectively meet the needs of Abia citizens”.
The country’s apex court, on July 11, delivered a judgment granting financial autonomy to local government councils.
