The former Labour Party (LP) governorship candidate in Imo State, Athan Achonu, has accused state governors of failing to show transparency in managing their share of the fuel subsidy removal proceeds.
Achonu said the governors have shown no convincing evidence of using these funds to impact human development.
He said the immunity enjoyed by governors makes them unaccountable, asserting that this is the more reason why more allocation should go to local governments, chairmen who can be held legally accountable.
He stated this at a press briefing in Owerri, the Imo State capital
Achonu commended the July 2024 Supreme Court judgment granting financial independence to local governments, describing it as one of the most significant democratic advances since 1999.
However, he warned that autonomy would only be meaningful if elections were conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and not state electoral bodies.
Achonu further urged civic groups like the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) to monitor local council funds to ensure grassroots accountability.
He declared further that Nigeria must constitutionalise zoning of the presidency across the six geopolitical zones to guarantee inclusivity and political stability.
“To achieve lasting inclusivity and stability, our zoning arrangement must be constitutionalised.
“It should be made operational not just for the north and south, but to deliberately rotate the presidency amongst the six geopolitical zones, starting with the two zones (south-east and north-east) that have not held that position since our democratic dispensation,” he said.
Achonu explained that when it is the turn of a region, it should serve a full eight years.
“If a president underperforms, the other five zones should have the power to trigger impeachment, but the replacement must still come from that same zone.
“This is to ensure stability, and not when one zone is ruling, another person from a different zone will jump into the ring to scatter it,” he added.
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The ex-LP candidate also pressed for diaspora voting, describing it as critical for inclusivity.
He recalled sponsoring a bill in the Senate to grant Nigerians abroad the right to vote, based on their economic contributions.
“It is worthy to highlight the rising significance of the Nigerian diaspora to the nation’s economic development, where it is on record that the official remittances from Nigerians abroad hit \$20.93 billion in 2024, four times the value of Nigeria’s foreign direct investment for the same period,” he said.
Also, Achonu backed ongoing tax reforms and the federal government’s 30 percent local processing requirement for raw materials before export, saying the policy would create jobs, strengthen technology capacity, and curb illegal mining.
