S’Court’s verdict on LG autonomy, a relief for governors

Governor of Kwara State and Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, AbdulRazaq AbdulRahman, has said that the forum welcomed the ruling of the Supreme Court granting autonomy to local government areas.

AbdulRazaq said the verdict of the court is a relief from the burdens on the governors.

AbdulRazak accompanied by the Chairman, All Progressives Congress Governors Forum, Hope Uzodimma, and Chairman, Peoples Democratic Party Governors Forum, Dr Bala Mohammed, made the remark while addressing State House correspondents after a meeting with President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Villa, Abuja on Friday.

He added that compliance to the verdict is guaranteed, saying “our Attorney General has applied for the enrollment order, which we’ll study carefully.”

“But by and large, governors are happy with the devolution of power in respect of local government autonomy. It relieves the burden on governors.

“Our people really don’t know how much states expend in bailing out local governments, and that’s the issue there,” he said.

AbdulRazaq said his government in Kwara State had never tampered with local government funds.

“What the local governments have to do is to manage themselves, especially with the incoming minimum wage, to manage their affairs and make sure salaries are paid, traditional rulers get their five per cent and those are the main issues,” he said.

AbdulRazaq said the forum would meet next Wednesday to look into issues of states where local government elections are yet to be conducted.

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

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

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

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

The court stated that it is the local government that should receive and manage funds meant for local government.

The Attorney General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), had filed a lawsuit on behalf of the Federal Government, seeking to grant full autonomy and direct funding to all 774 local government councils in the country.