Sen. Simon Bako Lalong, Senator for Plateau Southern Senatorial District, has stated that governors in Nigeria are spending local government monies and do not want the autonomy of the third tier administration to survive.

Lalong, the former Chairman of the Northern Governors Forum (NGF), remarked this during a discussion on a bill urging President Bola Tinubu to revive the LG administration in Nigeria.

He said some governors fought the effort of the last administration to continue the status quo of holding on to the control of LG administration to enable them to have access to the funds that they spent recklessly, exonerating himself by saying that he allowed the autonomy of local government administration in Plateau State for eight years.

Kawu maintained that the bill was necessary at this time, given that President Tinubu, who governed Lagos State from 1999 to 2007, understood the importance and potency of local government administration at the grassroots and granted them autonomy during his time.

He said: “President Bola Tinubu, when he served as governor of Lagos State from 1999 to 2007, and the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, when he served as the governor of Akwa Ibom State from 2007 to 2015, implemented various initiatives to improve service delivery at the local level, such as rehabilitating infrastructure.

Reacting after contributions by some senators, Deputy Senate President, Jibrin Barau decried the stiff opposition to the local government autonomy, saying that some governors never wanted the LGs to survive for their selfish reasons.