The Director General, National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies NILDS, Prof. Abubakar O. Sulaiman has promised to intensify efforts to ensure that the National Assembly grants autonomy to Local Government Councils in the country.

The DG made this known at the closing of a two-day capacity building on “Local Government Effectiveness for Kaduna State Local Government Officials” on Wednesday in Abuja.

He said that NILDS would continue to be a strategic partner in the efforts to reposition local government councils to discharge their constitutional responsibilities in Nigeria.

“We believe in the local government administration as the closest level of government for effective participation of the teeming population of the country in its governance system.

“We shall therefore continue to be at the fore front of efforts to ensure that local government autonomy becomes a reality in Nigeria.

“The Executive could decide to embark on certain constraints, deny local government their revenue, but such denials will not last forever,” he said.

Sulaiman urged the participants to gear up in anticipation of the local government autonomy in the nearest future.

“We are an institute, and through the institute to the national assembly, we shall support every local government in ensuring that true autonomy is granted to local government.

“It is a struggle we must all fight for and a struggle we must all win,” he said.

Speaking on the objective of the programme, he noted that it was to improve the professional competence of local government officers to discharge their duties in line with international best practices.

“To us at the Institute, this capacity building training is important.

“This is because it is tailored to meet specific needs of the local government administration particularly those skills and knowledge that will enable them support the work of an autonomous local government in Kaduna State,” he said.