SUSPICIOUS? SHOCK As Names Of Ex- Governors Who Rejected S/Court’s LG Autonomy Ruling Is Revealed; SEE Their Names
The Supreme Court’ s unprecedented decision to extend financial autonomy to Nigeria’ s 774 Local Government Areas (LGAs) has sparked heated debate for days.
The court granted the federal government’ s plea for direct payment of cash from the federation account to the LGAs, so bypassing state governments.
The court criticised the practice of state governors forming and directing caretaker committees, emphasising that local government councils must be democratically elected, as required by the Constitution. This decision is a huge success for local government autonomy and a setback for state governments’ authority over LGAs.
The Supreme Court also ordered the federal government to withhold funds from LGAs led by unelected officials chosen by governors, with six out of seven judges agreeing.
This decision is likely to have far- reaching consequences for grassroots government and democracy in Nigeria. Some past governors have criticised the Supreme Court’ s ruling, stating their views on it. Several of them are listed below:
James Ibori
The former governor of Delta State stated that the Supreme Court’ s decision providing full autonomy to local government operations in Nigeria violated the 1999 constitution as amended. Ibori stated that the Supreme Court’ s decision dealt a serious blow to Nigeria’ s federalism ideal, as outlined in Section 162(3) of the 1999 Constitution.
Ayodele Fayose
Fayose’ s words imply that, notwithstanding the Supreme Court’ s decision, governors continue to wield enormous power over municipal governments. He cautioned that anyone who believes differently is ” wasting their time. ”
The former governor’ s viewpoint illustrates Nigeria’ s continuing argument over local government authority. While the Supreme Court’ s decision is viewed as a triumph for grassroots government, Fayose’ s statements suggest that the situation on the ground may be more complicated………. CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE READING
