Senior Special Assistant to President Bola Tinubu on Community Engagement for the North-Central zone, Abiodun Essiet, has defended the President’s decision to pursue local government autonomy through the courts, saying stronger councils would extend development and empowerment to grassroots communities.

Essiet said the President’s action reflected his commitment to ensuring that local governments function effectively and deliver services directly to the peop

“You see him taking government to court because of local government autonomy. There’s no president that has done that because he believes the masses need to benefit,” she said.

She argued that strengthening local governments would help replicate at the grassroots the level of development and empowerment expected from federal and state governments.

“When our local government is strengthened, then you see the same level of empowerment and development that you’re seeing at the federal level up to the state level,” she said.

Essiet, who was responding to questions from State House Correspondents at a presidential media briefing in Abuja, disclosed that her office had established a citizen assembly comprising more than 700 people to report developments and challenges in communities across the North-Central zone.

According to her, about 70 per cent of the issues reported by the assembly fall within the responsibilities of local governments, underscoring the need for councils to become more effective.

“I must tell you, 70 per cent of the things they reported are responsibilities of local government,” she said.

She lamented that some local government workers did not regularly report to their offices, arguing that poor performance at that level of government affected service delivery in communities.

Essiet also called for greater accountability in the management of local government funds, saying direct access to resources would help councils meet residents’ needs.

She said the administration’s infrastructure projects were also responses to demands raised by communities, citing the Bida-Lambata-Mokwa Road as an example of a long-standing need being addressed.

The 401-kilometre road, valued at N1.8 trillion, had been associated with fatal accidents and had not received a major contract award for about 46 years, she said.

Essiet added that the administration was implementing about 1,200 infrastructure projects across the North-Central zone, including roads intended to improve connectivity and address security challenges.

She maintained that effective governance required cooperation among the federal, state and local governments, urging communities to report their needs so that the relevant authorities could respond.