The Supreme Court has ruled that the Nigerian Government must pay funds allocated to Local Governments directly to the respective Local Government Areas, which are managed by democratically elected officials.
In a landmark judgment delivered by Justice Emmanuel Agim on Thursday, the court declared that it is unconstitutional for State Governments to withhold and utilise allocations meant for Local Government Areas without transferring the funds to them, as mandated by Section 162(3) of the Constitution.
This ruling aims to ensure that Local Governments receive their rightful allocations, promoting decentralisation and grassroots development.
Supreme Court had reserved its judgement in a lawsuit brought by the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN) to call for local governments’ autonomy in the country.
A seven-man panel of the apex court led by Justice Garba Lawal made this known on after hearing the case in which all the 36 state governors were made the defendants by the Federal Government.
The government is asking the apex court to ban state governors from arbitrarily dissolving democratically elected local governments.
The Nigerian Government is also asking the apex court to stop the governors from maintaining joint accounts with local governments, describing it as unlawful and in violation of the provisions of the Constitution.
The Federal Government also wants the Supreme Court to prohibit governors from forming Caretaker Committees to manage local governments in violation of the Constitution’s recognised and protected democratic system.
It is also seeking an injunction prohibiting governors, their agents, and privies from receiving, spending, or tampering with funds released from the Federation Account for the benefit of local governments in states without a democratically elected local government system.
According to the suit, Nigeria as a federation, was created by the 1999 Constitution, as amended, with the President as Head of the Federal executive arm, swearing on oath to defend and give effect to sections of the Constitution.
The apex court had earlier given 36 defendants seven days to file their defence and also given the AGF two days to file his reply upon receipt of the governors’ defence.