Respect Supreme Court verdict, Akpabio tells govs

The Senate President, Godswill Akpabio on Thursday appealed to state governors to respect the Supreme Court’s judgement that granted autonomy to the 774 local government areas in Nigeria.

This came as the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, said the judgement holds possibilities for Nigeria’s future.

The Supreme Court had on Thursday declared that it is unconstitutional for state governors to hold funds allocated for local government administrations.

In the judgment delivered by Justice Emmanuel Agim, the seven-person panel declared that the 774 local government councils in the country should manage their funds themselves.

The apex court also held that the power of the government is portioned into three arms of government, the federal, the state and the local government.

Speaking to State House correspondents after talks with President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, the Senate President said, “Recall that the request was placed before the courts by the AGF because the Federal Government through President Bola Tinubu feels strongly about separation of powers and the need for autonomy of all arms of governments.

“And so for us in the legislature, the Supreme Court has spoken and we have no option than to abide by the Supreme Court ruling.

“So, I will just call on all states of the federation to respect what the Supreme Court has done and then we will go back to the legislature and see where we can dot the i’s and cross the t’s to ensure the full implementation.”

He expressed hope that the local governments can now undertake projects on their own.

Akpabio appealed to governors who have not conducted elections at the local government level to do so.

“I advise that there should be an impartial election at the local government level so that all the political parties can participate.

“At the moment there’s a lot of lethargy and nonchalant attitude by many political parties whose parties are not in power at the state level, they hardly partake in local government elections because of the perceived bandwagon effect and all that.

Describing the judgement as an impossibility turned reality, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, said, “All the constitutional amendments that were so far carried by the National Assembly, one aspect of it has always been local government autonomy and how to make the LG to work independently. Today, that impossibility became a reality.”

On his part, the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi hopes that local government officials will take the initiative to develop their communities.

“I call it local government emancipation judgement because it has really emancipated the local government from the shackles of the past and I hope that local government officials will look at it as an opportunity to develop their various local governments,” said Fagbemi,

On how to ensure compliance with the aspect of the judgement requiring state governments to conduct elections for local government areas, he said, “The ball is in the court of the governors, let us see what they will come out with, but the judgement is clear as to what they should do, the judgement is clear as to what consequences will be attached to failure or refusal to follow the judgement of the Supreme Court, which takes immediate effect.”