LP hails Supreme Court judgment on LG autonomy

The Labour Party leadership has welcomed Thursday’s judgment of the Supreme Court affirming fiscal autonomy on local government administration in Nigeria.

This was contained in a statement issued by the National Publicity Secretary of LP, Obiora Ifoh, hours after the verdict.

The apex court had granted full autonomy to the 774 local governments in the country as stipulated in the 1999 Constitution (amended).

The seven-man panel, in a unanimous decision, agreed that it is illegal and unconstitutional for governors to continue to receive or retain funds allocated to the local governments.

In the lead judgement delivered by Justice Emmanuel Agim, the apex court declared that the power of the government is divided into three arms of government, the federal, state and local governments.

The court further declared that a state government has no power to elect a caretaker committee, and a local government council is only recognizable with a democratically elected government.

However, in Thursday’s statement, Ifoh emphasised that the move was long coming.

He said, “We at the Labour Party welcome the Supreme Court decision granting financial autonomy to Local Government Councils in the 36 states of the federation, including the Federal Capital Territory. This decision was long in coming. But as the saying goes, it is better late than never.

“It has put to rest the debate as to whether or not local government areas, which are the closest to the ordinary people, deserve to enjoy some form of autonomy to address challenges facing the masses within their jurisdiction. We can now safely say local government areas have greater freedom to initiate and complete projects which will reduce suffering at the grassroots.

“This autonomy comes with a huge responsibility on local government councils just as councillors now owe their constituents a duty to hold local government chairmen accountable by ensuring prudent management of their resources. The expectation of Nigerians from the local government administration now is simple.

“They each must now take up the challenge of this newfound independence to ensure judicious use of public funds in their custody. We would also like to urge council chairmen not to see the additional inflow of public funds as an opportunity to engage in reckless spending and embarking on white elephant projects which can negate the whole essence of the financial autonomy granted them.”