Jubilation As Supreme Court  Orders FG To Pay Allocations Directly To LGAs

By Adesina Soyooye

Strips Govs Of Powers To Dissolve LG Councils

For Nigerian Governors, it is a bad day this Thursday, July 11, 2024. Their feeding bottle has been snatched from their mouths. Worse, they have been stripped of the powers to fill another bottle.

The Supreme Court on Thursday gave the Governors a double knock-out.

The Court in two landmark rulings, ordered the Federal Government to, with immediate effect, send the financial allocations meant for Local Government Councils directly to them from the Federation account. It also barred the Governors from dissolving the Local Government Councils at their pleasure.

In  a judgment delivered by a seven-man panel of the Apex Court, the Honourable Justices lamented the abuse by the Governors in keeping the LG funds, and disbursing it as they deem fit.

By so doing, the Governors pauperized the LGs, thus, making it impossible for them to carry out any meaningful projects, or even pay salaries. Atimes, some of the Governors, allegedly, give each Council as little as N10m per month.

The Federal Government had, in May,  filed a suit at the Supreme court against the 36 State Governors over LG funds.

The Federal Government in the suit marked SC/CV/343/2024,  asked for full autonomy for the LGAs, numbering 774.

Filed on behalf of the Federal Government by  the  Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, the FG, also, asked the Supreme Court to authorise the direct transfer of funds from the Federation Account to Local Governments. That, the FG said, will be in accordance with Nigeria’s Constitution.

The  FG hinged the suit on 27 grounds.

It noted in the originating summons: “That the Constitution of Nigeria recognizes Federal, States and Local Governments as three tiers of Government and that the three recognized tiers of Government draw funds for their operation and functioning from the Federation Account created by the constitution.

“That all efforts to make the Governors comply with the dictates of the 1999 Constitution in terms of putting in place a democratically elected local government system, has not yielded any result and that to continue to disburse funds from the federation account to governors for non-existing democratically elected local governments is to undermine the sanctity of the 1999 constitution.”

The FG, therefore,  asked the Apex Court to “invoke sections 1, 4, 5, 7 and 14 of the Constitution to declare that the Governors and State Houses of Assembly are under obligation to ensure democratically elected systems at the Third Tier.”

The Supreme Court has, also, told the Governors that they have no powers to dissolve Local Government Councils, another area which the State Governors abuse from time to time. The Court, henceforth, barred the Governors from dissolving the Councils, and described it as a breach of the Constitution.