The National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) and the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON) have urged President Bola Tinubu to make sure state governors follow the Supreme Court’s decision on local government autonomy.
While the Supreme Court granted financial autonomy to local governments on July 11, 2024, directing that their allocations be paid directly to them, the LG autonomy has not yet taken effect six months after the verdict because governors have allegedly persisted in obstructing the process.
ALGON Secretary-General Mohammed Abubakar expressed concern to reporters about the delay in implementing the LG autonomy.
While the governors continued to meddle in the process, Abubakar bemoaned the complexity of the LG autonomy concerns.
He stated, “It’s getting more complicated. According to our reports, major obstacles are preventing local governments from receiving their allocations directly, even if plans have been made for this to happen. The chairmen of local governments, who ought to be pushing for these reforms, are frequently controlled by the governors, which prevents them from exercising their independence.”
The president’s decisiveness was crucial in implementing LG autonomy, according to Abubakar, who urged the Federation’s attorney general and accountant general to ensure the autonomy’s financial autonomy was attained.
“The ruling of the Supreme Court is enforceable, and the law is unambiguous. The political will to implement it is what we currently need. In the absence of this, the governors will remain in power.
“The Federation’s Attorney-General and Accountant-General must collaborate to find a means of putting the decision into effect.”
Hakeem Ambali, the president of NULGE, also reaffirmed that the president is empowered under the constitution to guarantee the respect of autonomy.
He expressed his hope that the local government would receive direct funding. We were told that by December, local governments would start getting direct funding. As January approaches, we continue to hold out hope that the President will see to it that this policy is carried out. “We have faith that he will fulfil his commitment to this cause, which he has already demonstrated,” he stated.
Kamarudeen Ogundele, the Special Assistant to the President on Communications, responded to questions by outlining the Attorney General’s Office’s involvement in the case.
The Attorney General was responsible for bringing the matter to the Supreme Court, which it did, according to Ogundele.
“The implementation of the financial autonomy by ensuring that the local governments were paid directly was the responsibility of the Accountant General and the Minister of Finance,” he said.
“It was the Attorney General’s responsibility to take the case to court, and he had done so. The Finance Minister and the Federation’s Accountant General are in charge of making allocation payments. They must carry out the payment procedure,” Ogundele clarified.
