Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello has called on the national assembly to amend the constitution such that states are delegated more powers to control their own affairs.
He made this call while speaking during the public hearing held at the government house in the state on Tuesday.
Bello expressed that if states are empowered with greater control, Nigeria will be restructured and functional.
“Specifically, Kogi state requests that our constitution must devolve more powers to the states by amending the second schedule of part one and part two of the Constitution to allow states more input/control over some issues currently fenced off in the exclusive legislative list,” he said.
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Bello also called for states to have some extent of control over taxation, and minimum wage determination.
“Registration, regulation and taxation of business names and other forms of businesses which states may desire to enable within their territory — collection of stamp duties will grant states access to economic opportunities from which they are currently shut out. This is a necessity as all talks of states’ financial sustainability will require the development of a business environment that is unique to a state’s economic development needs.
“Labour matters, to the extent that a state’s labour force, payroll and minimum wage must match its carrying capacity — these can no longer be imposed on states on the basis of labour agreements with the federal government.”