I don’t want to be remembered for my many fights — Obaseki

By Daniel Abia

Former Governor of Cross River state, Donald Duke has said that for the recent judgment by the Supreme Court on the autonomy of local government can only be effective if the constitution is amended to suit that purpose.

Duke said that the federal government is not more responsible than the states, adding that since the constitution says that the Local government elections must be conducted by the states, then the third tier of government still remains within the purview of the states.

Speaking exclusively at the sideline of the 3-day Stakeholders summit by the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, in Port Harcourt on Friday, the former Governor said “I have my reservations about the Supreme Court judgment. I think for the judgment to be effective, we need a constitutional amendment.

“Is the Local Government a federating unit? We are going to operate true federalism. The Local Government should be guided by the laws, not by the Federal Government because it is the creation of the state. The constitution talks about the responsibilities of the federal and state governments. It does not talk about the responsibilities of the Local Government.

“We are not saying that there should be no Local Government, of course, there will be Local Government but it will be guided by the state. The problem they are trying to avoid is to give full autonomy to the states. We also know that the Federal Government is not even more responsible than the states. Don’t think you are better than the other one.

“Whatever you want to achieve, amend the constitution appropriately to suit it. If you want Local Government autonomy and at the same time you say the governor is the chief executive and in charge of the security of the state, there cannot be that kind of autonomy. They have to be responsible to the superior organ and that organ is the state House of Assembly”, he said.

Duke noted that whatever the government is set to achieve it must be tidied. “Well, that is the Supreme Court. Is like the Supreme Court of the United States that gave absolute immunity to Donald Trump about whatever he did while in office. So if he killed someone while in office what happens?

He recalled that when the then President Olusegun Obasanjo withheld the resources of Lagos state, it was based on this because Bola Tinubu then the Lagos state Governor had created several development areas not recognized by the constitution.

“He (Tinubu) went to court. But he is doing the same thing now. The constitution even said that the Local Government elections are carried out by the state electoral commission. In other words, the Local Government are still within the purview of the state.  Those conflicts have to be dealt with”, he concluded. (vanguard)