Governor Ahmadu Fintiri of Adamawa has said the Federal Government and the National Assembly cannot determine how state and local governments spend their allocations.
Mr Fintiri stated this during an interview on Channels TV current affairs program Hard Copy, which was aired on Friday.
According to him, all governors have welcomed the judgement of the Supreme Court, which granted full autonomy for the local government.
He, however, maintained that there was nothing wrong for the state and local governments to operate a consolidated account for joint projects.
He said: “Who is dictating to the Federal Government how they spend their money? Who is dictating to the National Assembly how they expend their subvention?
“If the local government decides that we have a joint we want to do collectively and they have budgeted for it, and they move this money into a consolidated account, what is wrong with that?”
He also faulted recent comments by Senators on local government autonomy, saying they are only seeking relevance.
He urged them to channel their energy in addressing the biting economic hardship in the country.
Mr Fintiri said: “I think the Senate is just trying to overheat the system by trying to make themselves relevant in the present circumstances of hardship, instead of facing their job and addressing issues that concern the ordinary citizen.
“The issue of electricity tariff, the various taxes they are trying to introduce now that are before them, and the issue of oil subsidy.
“They are busy talking about autonomy that has already been ruled on by the Supreme Court, and nobody is against that. We are all happy to have received that.”
Mr Fintiri further revealed that since he resumed office in 2015, local governments in the state have been enjoying autonomy.
(NAN)
