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Mount Pressure on Kogi Assembly on The Need To Support LG Autonomy Bill – Coalition of CSOs
By adminDec 16, 2017, 00:00 am
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Coalition of civil society organization (CSOs) and media has called on citizens of Kogi state to mount unrelenting pressure on lawmakers in the Kogi State House of Assembly until they support and pass the bills on local government autonomy and independent candidature in elections.
This was part of decisions reached after a one-day workshop on constitutional amendment sponsored by Partnership to Engage Reforms in Lokoja.
Civil society organizations and media practitioners in Kogi state brainstormed on the bills sent State Houses of Assembly across the country.
In the communique released after the workshop, the coalition agreed that the importance of financial autonomy of the state legislatures can not be over emphasized since the function of the law making by the assembly will continue to suffer setbacks if its finances are tied to the whims and caprices of the executive arm of government.
On the local government funding and administration, participants voted for its passage while appealing to the general public to speak to the conscience of the state legislators to effect the speedy passage of the bill. Participants charged the general public to embark on a robust advocacy on this important bill.
On the independence candidacy, discussants expressly agreed that every person has a right to participate on the political setup in the country and should not be denied this right because their preferred candidate fail to pass the hurdle of party primaries which are largely controlled by elitist cabals.
The Coalition endorsed the #NotTooYoungToRun bill. After exhaustive deliberations on this bill, participants adopted the instrument as a way of broadening the political space irrespective of age.
