JUST IN: What Atiku Said during Kebbi State PDP Campaign Rally

The Presidential Candidate of the People’s Democratic Party in the forthcoming February 16 election has promised autonomy for local governments if he emerges as Nigeria’s President.

As you may know, the former vice-president is in Birnin Kebbi, the Kebbi state capital, for campaign rally of his party.

It is a common practice in Nigeria for Local Governments to depend on allocations by state governments in other to fund projects or take carry out major decisions affecting the grassroot.

Most States practice a care-taker system where most sitting governors appoint party loyalists to head local governments in their local governments for only a period of time.

Kebbi PDP Rally

This is in contrast to the Local Government Council system where a Local Government Council Chairman is democratically elected and cannot be controlled or supervised by the state government.

Ordinarily, the functions of the local governments in Nigeria spread across: traffic; planning; housing; economic and community development; environment, recreation and amenity services; fire services and maintaining the register of electors but in reality only few LGA’s still carry out this responsibilities across the country.

In Atiku’s words:

“If elected on February 16, I will make sure the local governments in our country have autonomy and joint accounts between states and local governments will be scrapped.

“I will not allow any governor to take a penny from local governments’ coppers as the money are meant for LGAs and their development,” he said. He also promised to create jobs for the teeming unemployed youths and empower women to start up businesses in order to make the economy more stronger.

Kebbi Rally with Atiku Abubakar on Ground

“I will also make sure that poverty is chased away and hunger decimated in the country. ” When we do this we are, at the same time strengthening the security of our country and fighting insecurity,” He said.

HOT : ee Kwara State People Chanting”Ole Ole Ole” at Saraki and His entourage During Campaign Tour

The campaign rally at Kebbi State drew mammoth crowd as most party bigwigs were on ground, including Prince Uche Secondus, National Chairman of the PDP, the Director General, PDP Presidential Campaign Council, Sen. Bukola Saraki and the state Chairman of the party, Alhaji Haruna Saidu.

Earlier, Secondus said that the party was committed to preserving the unity of Nigeria. He further urged the people of Kebbi to vote massively for PDP candidates at all levels of the elections.