Minister faults governors delaying council polls

The Minister of Communications, Adebayo Shittu, has said South-West governors calling for true federalism in Nigeria are guilty of democratic malpractices.

Shittu said the governors do not understand true federalism.

The minister made the statement while delivering a lecture to mark the 40th anniversary of the Department of Psychology, University of Ibadan.

He spoke on the topic, “Psychology and the change agenda.”

The minister said, “A lot of people from the South-West, especially the state governments, have been making repeated calls for true federalism. But it is always a problem  to define what true federalism means.

“Among the state governors making the call for true federalism are those who have not conducted local government elections. They have refused to conduct council polls that would make the LG autonomous. They have been appointing caretaker chairmen for the councils.”

Shittu accused the governors of managing council allocations and other local governments’ resources.

“A lot of times, most of the resources of the local governments are controlled by these state governments. What examples are they setting? They should first provide good examples in their various states before clamouring for true federalism,” he said.

The minister commended President Muhammadu Buhari for his fight against corruption, saying that it had made his government popular.

The Head of Department of Psychology, Prof. Benjamin Ehigie, in his speech, highlighted several remarkable achievements of the department, adding that the department was facing some challenges that needed urgent attention.