LG Autonomy: Akpabio Says Senate will Amend Constitution to Make Supreme Court Verdict Implementable

Sunday Aborisade in Abuja

President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, has said the Senate will tinker with the constitution to allow for implementation of the Supreme Court judgement on local government autonomy.

Akpabio, according to a statement by his Special Assistant Media, Jackson Udom, made the pronouncement yesterday when he received a delegation from the Akwa Ibom State chapter of All Progressives Congress (APC).

His guests were the loyalists of the erstwhile Interim National Secretary of the party, Senator John James Akpanudoedehe.

Akpabio was quoted as saying in the statement, “I thank President Bola Tinubu for looking for a way to bring the all needed autonomy to the local governments through the intervention of the Supreme Court.

“The senate, under my leadership, will tinker with the constitution to ensure that the judgement is fully implemented without any loopholes for manipulation by the practitioners.”

It would be recalled that the senate, shortly before its members proceeded on the current long vacation, passed for first reading, a bill for the establishment of the National Independent Local Government Electoral Commission

The proposed legislation, which was sponsored by Senator Sani Musa (APC, Niger East), was aimed at saddling the commission with the responsibility of conducting elections for the 774 local governments in the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.

It was titled, “Local Government Independent Electoral Commission (Establishment) Bill, 2024 (SB. 531).”

The commission shall consist of a chairperson and six commissioners, appointed by the president and confirmed by the senate, according to the bill.

Akpanudoedehe, a former APC scribe, had defected to the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), after losing out in the leadership of the party.

Akpabio said he was ready to accommodate his guests in all the party activities in the state.

He said, “The only thing that is permanent in life is change. Before my coming into the APC, the party never won even a councillorship seat in the state and I came into the party in 2018, the then leaders of the party saw me as an enemy.

“During the 2019 elections, the APC worked against the APC. We had the best chance to have won the governorship and other elections in the state, but the then leaders refused to see it from that angle.

“I joined the APC so that we would be linked to the centre and I thank God today that that dream finally came to pass in 2023.

“I am today the President of the Senate, through the grace of God Almighty, the support of President Bola Tinubu and my distinguished colleagues, who elected me.

“God knew that I meant well for our people, so he elevated me to the position of the President of the Senate.

“When you raise people, your hands remain up and when you bring people down, your hands will also be down. So, follow person wey know road.

“On behalf of the party leadership, I welcome you back. I am happy that you have all returned to the party, where you belonged. Now that you are back, May God bless you and grant the progressive desires of your hearts.”

Speaking on behalf of the returnees, Eteubong Alex Umoh, Obong Kufre Akpan and Mrs. Roseline Eyang said they did not leave the party when their leaders defected to NNPP.

Umoh said, “We never left the APC. We never joined any other party, because we know you as the leader of the party in the state.

“We all recognise the President of the Senate as our leader in the state. We refused to be weapons of war in the hands of anybody against you and the party leadership.

“We are happy that we are all here today. There is no division in the APC because we are now one united family.”