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Supreme Court Grants Local Governments Financial Autonomy in Landmark Ruling
Photo Credit: The Cable
In a landmark decision, Nigeria’s Supreme Court ruled in favour of financial autonomy for local governments. A seven-member panel issued the judgment on Thursday, July 11th, ordering the federal government to bypass state control and send financial allocations directly to local government bank accounts. This decision upholds a lawsuit filed by the federal government itself, aiming to strengthen the independence of the country’s third tier of government.
Justice Emmanuel Agim delivered the lead judgement, declaring the long-standing practice of state governors receiving and holding onto local government funds as illegal and unconstitutional. The court further criticised the decades-long refusal of state governments to grant financial autonomy to local entities.
“It is the position of this court that the federation can pay local governments allocations directly to the local governments or through the states. In this case, since paying them through the states has not worked, justice demands that local governments allocations from the federation account should henceforth be paid directly to the local governments,” Emmanuel stated. “I hold that the states’ retention of local government funds is unconstitutional.”
The Supreme Court emphasised the separation of powers into three distinct arms: federal, state, and local. Justice Emmanuel affirmed the right of the 774 local government councils to manage their finances. He clarified that only democratically elected local administrations, not caretaker committees, are entitled to these funds.
Meanwhile, the National Councilors Forum of Nigeria has expressed its praise for the federal government and the Supreme Court’s decision. Forum president Yusuf Baba pointed out that certain state governments’ failure to establish democratically elected local government systems constituted a deliberate violation of the 1999 Constitution.
“Consequently, we, the leadership of the National Councilors Forum of Nigeria hereby present ourselves today, to rejoice with the Federal Government, the entire local governments of the federation and ultimately the Supreme Court, for this success of granting the local governments their constitutional rights and autonomy to that effect,” he said.
He further emphasised that local council heads and councillors will no longer have excuses for neglecting their duties and failing to deliver good governance at the grassroots level. Yusuf expressed optimism that the direct allocation of funds will lead to improved governance and tangible benefits for citizens, particularly through infrastructure projects.
