Gombe Bill On LG Joint Projects Is Obnoxious, Vexatious – Hon. Binta Bello Asserts

…Carpets Governor Yahaya, State Assembly for working against the people

BY ADEYEMI AKANJI, BAUCHI – A former member of the House of Representatives, who represented Kaltungo/Shongm Federal constituency, Hon Fatima Binta Bello, has described the Gombe State new law on Local Government Joint Projects Account as obnoxious and vexatious, stressing that it has nothing good to offer for the development of the State.

This is as she berated Governor Muhammad Inuwa Yahaya for sponsoring such an anti-people and retrogressive law that is even more dangerous than the abolished joint account.

Binta Bello said; “This is condemnable and contestable by all well-meaning citizens of the state.”
She equally carpeted the State House of Assembly for passing the bill without studying it to know its flaws and the danger it poses for the development of the State.

In her words; “It is crystal clear that the purported law seeks to usurp the powers of the Local Governments. The law did not also provide the conditions the ‘willing’ Local Councils will fulfill before they are allowed to participate.

“It equally did not define the meaning of ‘willing’ when it’s the Governor that’s the head and the ‘appointing or selecting’ executive. We demand that the bill be jettisoned and be thrown in the dustbin of history where it rightly belongs.

“Gombe State cannot go through the back door to enact a law that is inconsistent with that of the federation,” she said. 

Binta Bello, who was Deputy Minority Whip in the 8th National Assembly and a PDP Chieftain in Gombe State, alleged that the law is meant to serve as a conduit pipe to siphon Local Government funds thereby making them mere appendages of the State Government.

The former Reps member continued; “It is unfortunate that despite its outright rejection from various quarters and without holding any public hearing and consultations, the Gombe State House of Assembly blindly passed the bill that is meant to mortgage the future of the State into law.

“It’s obvious that the bill has come under scathing criticisms as it is not only considered to be obnoxious but it is also a negation of the principle of federation because it is inconsistent with the Federal Government’s regulation on the financial autonomy of the 774 Local Governments in the country.
She further said that the bill, apart from being in contravention to Section 7 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended, is also contradicting the guidelines of the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), which became effective on June 1, 2019. 

She noted that the NFIU also described the State and Joint Local Government accounts as the biggest corruption, money laundering and security threats at the grassroots level and to the entire financial system.

She added; “The government owes a duty to the good people of Gombe State to make laws for the good governance of the state and not otherwise. “This bill is anti-people and a negation of the desire to ensure the autonomy of Local Governments and is hereby rejected,” she stressed.

The Gombe State executive arm of government had early in the year sent a bill on a joint projects account with the 11 Local Government Areas in the state with the aim of joint funding of capital projects to the State House of Assembly. 

Though there was strong opposition to the passage of the bill by some members particularly those in the opposition PDP, majority of the members supported its passage after its third and final reading.