By Saminu Ibrahim
Elder statesman, Alhaji Tanko Yakasai on Thursday called for the scrapping of local government areas, as third tier of government in Nigeria.
Yakasai also observed that creation of state police will be abuse, saying Nigeria should not consider the establishment of state police in the review of the 1999 constitution.
The elder statesman spoke at the Kaduna center of the North West zonal public hearing of the senate Committee on the review of the 1999 constitution.
Yakasai, who said he had submitted a memorandum to the committee, recalled that state police was abused in northern Nigeria under the native authority police, adding that the same scenario occurred in Western Nigeria under western Nigeria police.
Speaking on the scrapping of local government areas in Nigeria, Yakasai stated that the local government areas are not serving the purpose for which they were created. He challenged delegates to state benefits being derived from the third tier of government.
“The local government are not serving the purpose for which they are created, they are not serving the public. Let everyone state what benefit his local government is bringing to his community including himself.
“The state police will be subject to abuse, it happened before in northern Nigeria, under native authority police, it happened in Western Nigeria under western Nigeria police; and this is why under Obasanjo, people of the north and the west and even the east who had no police joined forces together to oppose the retention of state police and local government police” Yakasai said.
He however canvassed regional government, where there shall have regional executive council and regional legislature, saying the regional governor will preside over the executive council of the region, which will be Superior to the states under the region.
“For instance in my own zone (North west), we have seven states and the regional government will be Superior to each of the seven states. There will be regional executive council and regional legislature, then the regional governor will preside over the executive council of his region. The speaker of the regional house of Assembly will preside over the meeting of regional house of Assembly” he added.
Yakasai explained that his position is not similar to confederation, stressing that presidential system of government should be retain in Nigeria.
