Nigerians across different political and ethnic divides have continued to hail the Supreme Court of Nigeria on its landmark judgement on Local Government autonomy, especially financial autonomy granted the 774 Local Government Councils on Thursday in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory.
Recall that Justice Emmanuel Agim-led Supreme Court Justices delivered a judgement on Thursday in a suit filed by the Federal Government against the Governments of the 36 States, seeking full autonomy for 774 Local Government Councils in the Country as the Supreme Court held that LG allocations should no longer be paid through the States’ Governments.
Reacting to the judgement, Governor Chukwuma Soludo of Anambra State applauded the judgement of the Supreme Court. He however blamed lingering litigation for frustrating plans to conduct Council elections in Anambra State.
Governor Soludo submitted that the Supreme Court is the final authority, saying “as a Democrat, I believe in the rule of law. You know that once the Supreme Court has spoken it has spoken.”
A former governor of Ogun State and the Senator, representing Ogun East Senatorial District, Gbenga Daniel, said “this constitutional resolution is long overdue because the local government administration is closest to the grassroots and they should have the capacity to impact directly on the lives of the people through the initiation of life-changing programs and projects.”
“There’s no better way to describe this judgment than final nailing of the tyranny coffin of governors over the finances of local governments. The Supreme Court had in one judgment voiced the remittance of local governments’ money through the states but these governors discarded the judgment and continued with their stronghold”
In Abia State, Aba residents celebrated the Supreme Court judgement, which granted autonomy to the Local Government, as the third tier of Government.
A civil rights activist and social commentator, Obinna Nwagbara, described the judgement as a step in the right direction and the best thing that had happened to Nigeria’s Democracy since governors usurped the powers of Local Governments.
For the president general, Coalition of South East Youth Leaders, Goodluck Ibem, the Supreme Court judgement on local government autonomy, would deepen democracy in the country, but he warned local government chairmen not to allow themselves to be intimidated by governors to handover people’s funds to them.
The Association of Local Governments of Nigeria, Osun State Chapter, described the judgment of the Supreme Court as a welcome development.
The chairman of ALGON in Osun State, Sarafa Awotunde, said the Association was happy with the judgment, noting that Governor Ademola Adeleke of Osun State is always interested in what will bring developments to all the Local Government Councils in the State.
The Benue State Local Government staff burst into joyous mood as news of the judgment spread with Local Government workers and officials celebrating their newfound autonomy.
Dennis Akura, the Special Adviser to Benue State Governor Hyacinth Alia, said “The State, governor, government and her people celebrate a visionary leader, His Excellency, Bola Ahmed Tinubu on the victory he has once again obtained for the masses. It is a great victory indeed and it goes to show how important the ordinary man on the street, the last man down the line, is important to him and his administration.”
In Kwara, Aliyu Musa, Public Commentator, said, “the Supreme Court judgement on local government autonomy is big relief and highly welcome development in every sense, just as Adeola Adeyanju, the Public Affairs Analyst, submitted that, “as regards today’s judgment, on Local Government autonomy is not unexpected, they have taken a good step.”
In Anambra State, Leader of the Labour Party Caucus in the House of Representatives, Afam Ogene, hailed the Supreme Court judgement granting financial autonomy to the 774 Local Governments in Nigeria.
“This decision will empower grassroots development and bolster the integrity of local governance, marking a substantial step forward for Nigeria’s democratic journey,” Ogene said.
Reacting to the judgement, Elijah John, a professor at the University of Uyo, described it as a welcome development, but noted however that steps should be taken to check the excesses of local government administrators by strengthening the country’s institutions
“The major problem in the country is that our institutions are weak. Until our institutions are strengthened, it is a long way to real development, it is a welcome development and it means well for the economy. How equipped are the councilors to checkmate the excess of the local government chairmen?”
“It is a welcome development but the challenge here is that there will be no way to checkmate the excess of local government administrators,” he said.
A professor of broadcast journalism, Charles Obot, said it was long overdue, describing it as result-oriented.
Obot suggested that with the financial autonomy granted to local government councils, local government councils’ elections should be conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission, saying the States’ Electoral Commissions should be disbanded forthwith.
A lawyer and commentator on political and socio-economic matters, Remi Lambert, said the pronouncement of the Justices of the Supreme Court has proved the eagerness of President Tinubu to return the country to a workable democracy.
He said judgments of this nature are given because the body language of the president shows he cannot tolerate distortion to the laws of the land and that has given the court boldness required to serve justice to the people.
He said, “One of the greatest flaws of our democracy has been the denial of the constitutional autonomy of the local government which is the third tier of our governments. Nigeria constitutionally has been a mockery of democracy as a government meant to stand on a tripod has only two legs with the local governments turned into mere appendages of the state governors’ offices.
“The governors both past and present have remained demi gods that have messed up our laws and rendered the Constitution useless by cherry picking the ones to obey and not to obey. Remember that constitutionally, the offices of president, governor and local government chairman are constitutionally elective but what do we have, local government chairmen appointed by governors.
“This is why when the tenure of these appointed chairmen ends, their bosses who are the governors extend it without recourse to the stipulated constitutional position on that and that is why we have these various crises in all the states. But with this pronouncement which I strongly believe that Mr. President will implement without any delay because he has proven to us that he has the political will with various decisions he has taken, the era of distortion to the laws of our country is over.
“I’m not saying he, Mr. President, gave the judgment; rather every one of us knows that if the Justices had done otherwise the President would have been on the bashing end. Nigerians would have accused his administration of not recognizing the constitution, now that it’s this way, his administration under which it happened for the first time should be commended. He was equally elated by the judgment. So, like I said, President Tinubu will implement the judgment and will see to it that states implement it too because he is a true democrat.”
Lambert urged the courts at all levels to emulate the Supreme Court in serving the people’s justice, maintaining that judiciary is and must be seen to be the last hope of the common man.
“The Supreme Court has truly opened up a whole new vista of opportunity for Courts with this landmark judgment. I want to believe that subsequent judgments that have to decide on the lives and existence of the common man, especially those that bother on political positions must be seen to serve justice without any form of bias. The Constitution must remain the “Grand Norm” in order to avert the kind of situation happening in Rivers State and building up in Enugu State. When the politicians, especially the governors, respect the Constitution, true democracy will be practiced here but for now, what we are practicing is “governorcracy” and this is a mockery of democracy.”
Another lawyer and activist, Walton Elendu, said he was not surprised that such commendable judgment was given by the Supreme Court jurists and in the present administration led by President Bola Tinubu.
The legal luminary said as a true democrat, Tinubu’s body language will certainly encourage every sector to imbibe the tenets of true democracy.
“The Supreme Court judgment on the autonomy of local governments, I’m not surprised at all. I was confident my Lord Justices would use the case to redirect our democracy and create an environment for it to thrive in our country. This is exactly what they did by granting the local governments their constitutional financial autonomy which has been usurped by the governors.
“It’s because of who is at the helm of affairs. When you have a democratic president, democracy will certainly thrive in that country and that is exactly what we are reaping from the present administration. It’s clear that the Tinubu-led administration is working hard to eliminate some militocracy hangover that has persisted and was pushed forward by the President Muhammadu Buhari government. All we need to do is to give him support where he does well and criticize positively where he goes wrong in terms of policies. I’m happy with the Supreme Court judgment. It has shaped not only Tinubu’s administration but also the country’s democracy.”
Elendu also commended the opposition for playing a very important role by applauding the apex court and not playing politics with the judgment.
“This is exactly what we are craving for. The opposition did not play politics with the judgment. They celebrated it and commended the Justices. It’s exactly what opposition is all about not overheating the political environment by condemning every policy or step taken by the government in power on the other hands, as the ruling party appreciated the commendations of the opposition when it is criticized, should equally appreciate the criticism, by this we will build a great nation for us and future generations. So, like every good Nigerian, I am happy that such a judgment came from the Supreme Court which makes it a law. There is no appeal except to God.”
To a constitutional lawyer and human rights activist, Ikem Ikemohara, the Supreme Court judgment is a nail fixed to the coffin of governors’ tyranny over the local governments finances.
“There’s no better way to describe this judgment than final nailing of the tyranny coffin of governors over the finances of local governments. The Supreme Court had in one judgment voiced the remittance of local governments’ money through the states but these governors discarded the judgment and continued with their stronghold.
“Now that the judgment has declared local governments financially autonomous, let’s see how the governors will wriggle out of it. Even the layman knows that the Supreme Court judgment is law in itself therefore, this judgment is a backup law to the Constitutional provisions for the financial autonomy of the local governments. The implications are that there will be massive developments at the grassroots, massive employment; the prolonged security issues will receive urgent and adequate attention. Another aspect that gives me joy is that chairmen and councilors will no longer be handpicked by the governors. Now, performances will begin to judge and decide who becomes a chairman or councilor. It will no longer be 100 percent ruling party’s candidates’ affairs. This judgment has unbundled much in our political space.
“Governors handpick their protégés, install them as local government chairmen, and then demand returns from them. So, what is the point of granting them autonomy if they can still be controlled? With or without autonomy, the state governors will continue to receive returns from local governments unless there is a credible election process that allows opposition candidates to become chairmen of local governments”
“Something is worthy of commenting on this matter and that is the political will exhibited by the President signifying his readiness for a true democracy where the rule of law prevails. His commending the Supreme Court Justices for the judgment is a way of giving them the confidence to do the right thing regardless of whose ox is gored. This is what the judiciary needs, total free hands from the executive in particular because interference will always hinder justice. So, I am also not surprised that this will happen in the time of President Tinubu. But one important thing is that he should not tolerate the governors’ excesses in wanting to disobey the judgment because they must want to find a way to circumvent the judgment.”
A Kano-based retired local government staff who preferred anonymity regretted that this did not happen in his time.
The retired Director in one of the state’s local government areas, while commenting on the usefulness of the judgment, said those of them who retired from local government areas are living in penury because the governors took over the finances of the local governments and left them with empty treasury.
“It’s good news but to some of us who worked and retired from the local governments, it’s a total regret that it didn’t happen in our time. We never had it good as civil servants under local government though we were generating funds in addition to the funds the Federal Government was disbursing to the local governments. Yet we remained in poverty because there was never a time when the local governments had money. Often the governors who kept breeding on the necks of the chairmen would collect the money and give pittance to the local governments that could not even pay staff salaries and that was why some local governments owe six months some more. With this judgment now, the local government staff will have reason to smile as workers.”
However, a constitutional and human rights lawyer, Madubuachi Idam, asserted that state governors will likely continue to benefit from local government chairmen despite the recent Supreme Court ruling.
Idam described the Supreme Court verdict as justice for the oppressed.
He expressed hope that the ruling would end the longstanding misappropriation of local government funds by state governors.
“The Supreme Court judgment granting local government autonomy represents justice for the oppressed. It is undoubtedly a good riddance to bad rubbish. Unfortunately, its implementation will likely suffer at the hands of the state governors.
“This ruling should ideally put an end to the prolonged theft of local government funds by the governors. However, there is effectively no difference between local governments and state governments in Nigeria, given the subservient selection process of local government chairmen under the guise of elections.
“Governors handpick their protégés, install them as local government chairmen, and then demand returns from them. So, what is the point of granting them autonomy if they can still be controlled? With or without autonomy, the state governors will continue to receive returns from local governments unless there is a credible election process that allows opposition candidates to become chairmen of local governments.
“I fear that the Supreme Court judgment may be treated as another lifeless, cosmetic article if local government chairmen continue to be determined by governors.”
An economist, Adannaya Obinna, described the judgment as an avenue for a bold step towards economic recovery.
She said money in local governments is money in the grassroots and money in the grassroots is money in the families of the hinterlands.
“Politics is a grassroots game. It grows from the grassroots in the local villages to the highbrow cities. When you talk about political development you are referring to the development in the local villages but unfortunately that’s not so in Nigeria. Politics is for the high and mighty in the cities and that is the reason politicians steal all that is meant for the people at the grassroots, cart them away to establish in the cities. They kill economic activities in the localities and turn the people to beggars by ensuring that the tier of government that reaches the people at the grassroots is starved of funds.
“By this there would be no employment, infrastructural development. So with the judgement, the local government chairmen will now have responsibility for quality representations of their people who are closer to them than the state government. Economically, this judgment will create a boom. It will also reduce the pressure on the cities and of course, reduce criminality. It’s a good omen that should be celebrated.”
