Nyesome Wike, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, has defended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu over the usage of funds allocated to the 774 local governments in the country.
The Minister said the president has no power to determine how the LGAs funds are spent, because he cannot force the state governors to do his will concerning how the funds are managed.
Wike made the assertion in Port Harcourt, Rivers state on Wednesday during his montly media chart amid outrage in the country over alleged mismanagement of LGA funds by the subnational governments in the country.
State governors have been accused of diverting funds belonging to the third tier ofgovernment in the country, making it difficult for the LGAs to embark on meaningful development at the grassroot.
Amid the controversy sorrounding the alleged mismanagement of council funds by the governors, Supreme Court, in July 2023, delivered a landmark judgment directing the federal government to ensure that LGA allocation from the federation account were directly paid to the Councils.
In spite of the judgment, there are indications that the governors have not complied,a situation that has forced not a few Nigerians, including the Presidential candidate of the National Democratic Coalition, NDC Peter Obi to call out the president to intervene so that the governors can obey the law.
But reacting, Wike said whatever the governors chose to do with the LGAs funds is their business, saying the state and Councils as tiers of government in the country are not under the control of the president.
He added that now that more funds are allocated to the federal, stateand local governments due to the gains fromsubsidy removal, President Tinubu can stillnot determine how other two tiers of government spend what they get from the federation account.
“Now, the government has said the gains have been shared among sub-nationals. Tinubu has no power to say, ‘State, this is what you should do with the funds that you’ve brought in from the fuel subsidy.’
“He has no power to tell local governments what to do with their money. All tiers of government are independent,” Wike said.
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