Supreme Court Rules in Favour of Local Government Autonomy, Bars Governors from Holding Council Funds
In a landmark judgment, the Supreme Court has declared that it is unconstitutional for state governors to withhold funds meant for local government administrations. The court’s decision comes after the Federal Government instituted a suit against the 36 state governors, seeking full autonomy and direct fund allocation to the 774 local governments in the country.
The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), argued that the state governors had engaged in gross misconduct and abuse of power by refusing to grant financial autonomy to local governments. The Federal Government prayed the Supreme Court to order the direct payment of funds from the Federation Account to the local governments, rather than through the state governments.
In a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Federal Government, declaring that the refusal of state governments to grant financial autonomy to local governments is unconstitutional. Justice Emmanuel Agim, who read the lead judgment, noted that the practice had gone on for over two decades, with local governments unable to receive their allocated funds from the state governors.
The court’s ruling prohibits state governors from unilaterally dissolving democratically elected local government executives and constituting caretaker committees to run the affairs of local governments. The court also restrained governors from receiving, spending, or tampering with funds released from the Federation Account for the benefit of local governments when no democratically elected local government system is in place.
The Supreme Court’s decision is a significant victory for local government autonomy and a major blow to the powers of state governors. The ruling is expected to have far-reaching implications for the governance and administration of local governments in Nigeria.
