Full LG Autonomy: A Step In The Right Direction
By Victor Oluwayemi, PhD
When the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, instituted a suit at the Supreme Court against the continuous financial emasculation and subordination of the local government councils by their states, through the emperor governors, some of us who are skeptics of the Bola Ahmed Tinubu led administration felt it was another wild goose chase and usual propaganda endeavour of the federal government.
However, the judgment of the apex court yesterday ignites some sense of hope in the general populace on the financial autonomy of the 774 local governments all over the country. Although hardly does a Nigerian politician does anything selflessly without any underhand benefits accruable to them; in this case, the Tinubu led administration is worth commending for rising to the occasion to fight for the dying third tier.
While it is believed in some quarters that Tinubu’s decision to pursue LG financial autonomy at the Supreme Court is for the purpose of weakening the hold of the governors on the local government and to decimate their financial armoury, which LG funds happen to be a significant part, all in a bid to pave a smooth way for his reelection in 2027; whether done altruistically or otherwise, the point is LG funds have now been insulated against the reach of the emperor governors.
In its landmark judgement, the Supreme Court made it clear that it is unconstitutional for the governors to withhold, part with some or totally sit on the funds meant for the local government councils. Also, the court categorically declared that the establishment of caretaker committee to administer the local government areas is unrecognisable as only ‘a democratically elected local government is sacrosanct and non-negotiable’.
Therefore, elected local government officials should manage themselves without being subservient to the states, through the governors. Also, the court directed the local government allocations to be paid directly to the local governments from the federation account without any intermediary.
However, this payment must be made only to a democratically elected local governments, not any other arrangements made by the states or the governors. Thus, inability of the state to conduct a local government election automatically translates to no funds for the local government. I believe this will force states to conduct elections and make local government electioneering more competitive and viable.
Interestingly, some former and incumbent governors have shown their disaffection towards the judgement. Who wouldn’t when their pot of soup with assorted meats has been snatched from them and given to the rightful owners? This is evident in the former Governor of Delta State, James Ibori’s post on X (formerly Twitter), claiming the full autonomy to local governments is ‘a severe setback on the principles of federalism’.
He claimed ‘there are only two tiers of government in a federal system of government’. Nigerian governors are a group of selfish people who wouldn’t mind fiddling with the funds of the local governments and rendering them ineffective. From which constitution was Ibori quoting? Does Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution (as amended) not recognise three tiers of federal, state and local governments? If not for the way Nigeria is, is a person of Ibori’s character supposed to even come out to show any disagreement on any issue of national importance, having ingloriously and shamelessly plunged Delta State into financial crises during his shameful days as a governor? The state, despite being one of the highest earners of allocation in the federation, is no different from other states that are being perpetually looted by the looters-in-chief across the country.
Although the Supreme Court has granted full autonomy to the local governments, there are still many things to be done to really make the local government free. Topping the list is taking the organisation and conduct of local government elections away from their respective states. Let a truly independent electoral body manage and conduct local government elections nationally. The people must be on their toes to demand good governance from elected local government officials.
They must participate actively in the choice of electing those who will administer their local government areas and monitor their policies and programmes to make sure that they are tailored towards meeting the needs of the people at the grassroots.
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