Leadership news report that, The federal government has announced that it will halt allocations to local government areas without democratically elected chairmen, in line with the Supreme Court’s judgment on local government autonomy. A three-month moratorium, starting from July, has been granted to states without democratically elected chairmen to conduct elections and put their houses in order. This follows an agreement between the states and the federal government to temporarily hold off on implementing the judgment, allowing them to prepare….READ FULL ARTICLE...READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE ▶▶
The Supreme Court’s landmark judgment on July 11, 2024, affirmed the financial autonomy of the 774 local governments in Nigeria, ruling that governors can no longer control funds meant for the councils. The court directed the accountant-general of the federation to pay allocations directly to the local governments’ accounts, declaring the non-remittance of funds by the 36 states unconstitutional.
The special adviser to the president on communication and publicity, Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Kamarudeen Ogundele, confirmed that copies of the judgment had been sent to the Ministry of Finance and other relevant agencies for implementation. He emphasized that the Minister of Justice is not responsible for implementing the judgment, which is the responsibility of the Ministry of Finance and other agencies.
Ogundele clarified that the judgment is clear in its directive, stating that only democratically elected local government chairmen will benefit from the allocations. He emphasized that the local government is an independent tier of government in Nigeria and cannot be run as departments in the state government. The judgment’s implementation will ensure that funds are paid directly to the democratically elected local government chairmen, bypassing state governors….READ FULL ARTICLE
