Young Progressives Party (YPP) candidate in the Anambra Nov. 8 governorship election, Mr Paul Chukwuma, has urged governors to ensure that states and Local Governments Areas (LGAs) exist as truly autonomous entities.
Chukwuma said this in a statement on Wednesday in Awka to mark Nigeria’s 65 independence anniversary.
He said it was only by doing so that Nigeria would hit greater heights in its development strides.
Chukwuma said if the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory functioned according to the law establishing them as the second and third tiers of government it would tackle corruption and encourage transparency in governance.
The governorship candidate decried a situation where Nigeria marks landmark 65 independence anniversary still fundamentally troubled by the burden of underdevelopment.
“We can no longer continue to discuss Nigeria’s challenges in abstract terms, neither should we continue to discuss Nigeria’s shortfalls in general terms.
“To solve the Nigerian puzzle we must first properly diagnose the issue at stake.
“To this end, the greatest challenge to Nigeria’s development is our sub-nationals. Development cannot be achieved without clear fundamentals at the state and in our local governments,” he said.
According to him, unfortunately, in Anambra the 21 LGAs were merely symbolic rather than a tier of government that derived its powers from the people.
“I am now more convinced than ever that the time has come for Nigerians, and specifically, the people of Anambra to make clear demands from their governors.
“The only way to fix Nigeria is for governors to fix our states and our LGAs,” he said.
He enjoined residents of the state to vote YPP during the governorship election to enable it entrench democratic structure that would ensure local government autonomy.
“For us in the YPP, with the mandate of the people of Anambra, we shall fix Nigeria by fixing Anambra and making it to work for the people.
“Our LGAs shall have full access to their funds and we shall ensure regular and credible elections into the LGAs.
“We shall govern Anambra with the rule of law, and we shall strengthen all government institutions for sustainability in governance,” he said. (NAN)