Following the Supreme Court’s judgement granting financial autonomy to the 774 Local Government Areas in the country, Governor Charles Soludo of Anambra State and his Cross River State counterpart, Senator Bassey Out, yesterday, said they accepted the verdict in good faith.
However, efforts to get the Chairman of Nigeria’s Governors Forum, NGF, and governor of Kwara State, Abdulrahman Abdulrasaq proved abortive as he evaded questions from State House correspondents after meeting with President Tinubu.
The apex court, in a landmark judgement, ruled that it is unconstitutional for governors to hold onto funds meant for local governments.
The Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision by a seven-member panel of justices, barred governors of the 36 states of the federation from receiving, withholding, tampering or utilizing funds that stand to the credit of the local government areas.
While President Bola Tinubu, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, the National Union of Local Government Employees, NULGE, Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, SERAP, Labour Party, LP, and Coalition of United Political Parties, CUPP hailed the Supreme Court judgement, former governor of Delta State, Chief James Ibori, said the verdict has dealt a severe setback to the principle of federalism in the country.
Recall that the Federal Government had in a suit marked SC/CV/343/2024, filed on May 24, 2024, prayed to the Supreme Court to give full autonomy to local governments.
It also urged the court to issue an order prohibiting state governors from embarking on unilateral, arbitrary and unlawful dissolution of democratically elected local government leaders.
Besides, the Federal Government prayed to the Supreme Court for an order, stopping governors from further constituting caretaker committees to run the affairs of local governments, against the constitutionally recognised and guaranteed democratic system.
It equally applied for an order of injunction, restraining the governors, their agents and privies, 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 put in place in the states.
Governor Charles Soludo of Anambra State described the judgment as great and final.
Professor Soludo stated this while speaking with State House correspondents after meeting with President Tinubu, alongside chairman of Nigeria’s Governors Forum, Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrasaq of Kwara State, Governor Usman Ododo of Kogi State and Prince Bassey Otu of Cross River State at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.
Asked to react to the Supreme Court judgement granting local government autonomy, he said: “That’s great. I mean, the Supreme Court is supreme, the final authority and I’m a democrat. I believe in the rule of law.
“Once the Supreme Court has spoken, it has spoken. I think the Governors Forum is meeting to review this. I haven’t seen the document myself. I’ve been extremely, very busy all through the day but I’ve seen snippets of it.
“But at a fundamental level, yes, we need resources to get down to the grassroots and we need the people’s money to work for them at all levels, whether at the federal or the state and the local government.