LG Autonomy: Presidency Reacts To Supreme Court Ruling

The Presidency has issued a response following the Supreme Court’s ruling that upheld local government autonomy, rejecting a challenge from 36 state governors.

The ruling mandates that federal allocations intended for local government councils must be deposited directly into their respective accounts.

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Previously, many states in Nigeria operated joint accounts with local governments.

However, Justice Emmanuel Agim, leading a seven-member panel of justices, emphasized that each local government’s allocation should be deposited separately into its designated account.

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The federal government, represented by the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), brought the case (marked SC/CV/343/2024) to the Supreme Court, seeking full autonomy for the 774 local governments across the country.

Reacting to the ruling, Special Adviser to President Tinubu on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, outlined the implications of the Supreme Court’s decision.

He clarified that moving forward, state governments are prohibited from handling, withholding, or tampering with funds allocated to local governments.

The court’s decision also bars governors from dissolving democratically elected local government officials, stating this action violates the 1999 Constitution.

The federal government’s case against the governors was built on 27 grounds, accusing them of misconduct and abuse of power.

Among its requests, the government asked the Supreme Court to direct that funds allocated to local governments from the Federation Account be paid directly to them, bypassing state authorities.

The court additionally ordered governors to refrain from appointing caretaker committees to oversee local government affairs, reaffirming the necessity for democratically elected leadership as per constitutional provisions.