The landmark judgment on local government autonomy made on July 11, 2024 by the Supreme Court of Nigeria affirming its original jurisdiction as contained in Section 232 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (As amended) is a good score against dictators and usurpers of power who have caged and retarded the local government councils in Nigeria for decades.
The executive at the Federal Government (FG) level having noticed State Governors’ overbearing and exploitative actions on the local government (LG) in Nigeria, took the bull by the horn in May 2024 and challenged the aberration at the Apex court.
The FG suit marked SC/CV/343/2024 urged the Supreme Court, inter alia, to issue an order prohibiting state governors from embarking on unilateral, arbitrary and unlawful dissolution of democratically elected local government leaders, issue an order permitting the funds standing in the credits of local governments to be directly channelled to LGs from the Federation Account and to issue an order preventing the governors from further constituting caretaker committees to administer the affairs of local governments in violation of the constitutionally recognised and guaranteed democratic system. The Court affirmed all these prayers of FG. Rights and Freedom Advocates (RIFA) like other patriotic Nigerians see this this ruling of the Apex Court as a victory for the good people of Nigeria.
It would be recalled that Section 7 (1) of FRN 1999 Constitution (As amended) provides “the system of local government by democratically elected local government councils is under this Constitution guaranteed; and accordingly, the Government of every State shall, subject to section 8 of this Constitution, ensure their existence under a Law which provides for the establishment, structure, composition, finance and functions of such councils.”
Rights and Freedom Advocates (RIFA) note that this constitutional provision of democratic local government administration is superior to any justification in support of States’ annihilation of local councils. Therefore, any State law which contradicts any provision of the Constitution shall remain null and void to the extent of its inconsistency in line with Section 4 (5) of the Nation Constitution.
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Therefore, the claim that Section 162 (5-8) provides for the State Joint Local Government Account into which shall be paid all allocations to the local government councils of the State from the Federation Account and from the Government of the State is contrasuggestible to Section 7(1) on what democratically elected officials should do if no such account exist between the States and the FG.
Similarly, Sections 3 and 4 of Part II B of the Third Schedule of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria which makes provision for the establishment of State Independent Electoral Commission to organize, undertake and supervise all elections to local government councils within a state remains the main hurdle which the National Assembly must repeal as a matter of urgency.
The hitherto action of the State Houses of Assembly not recording 2/3 majority to support local government autonomy should be a thing of the past as the State Houses of Assembly and the National Assembly must expedite action to ensure the Supreme Court decision comes to fruition.
To effectively guarantee efficiency of functions of local government in Nigeria specified in Section 7(5) of the 1999 Constitution of FRN thus “The functions to be conferred by Law upon local government council shall include those set out in the Fourth Schedule to this Constitution”, the Constitution must be made to ensure true federalism and independence of each tier of government in the Country so that no State Governor would be emperor on the local government again.
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Besides, RIFA noted there should be abolition of State Electoral Commission which has been a tool the Governors used to legitimize their electoral and administrative frauds at the local level. INEC should be empowered to conduct elections at local government level as it did in 1998. Now that governors have been directed to steer clear of LG fund and control, the local government should think out of box to justify their autonomy and make the FG not regret fighting for their emancipation.
The local populace should also constitute pressure groups to monitor local government operations so that the local government leadership would not become another terror on the populace which fought for their liberation. Arbitrary levies, taxes or unorthodox collection agents should be eschewed in order to protect the sanctity of the local administration while professionals should be given due recognition in administration of the Country as against touts destroying the Nation with rascality.
As both the executive and judiciary have joined Nigerians to clamour and ensure local government autonomy, the last hurdle to cross now is with the National and State Assemblies and Nigerians and international community are eagerly awaiting the legislature seal that would finally guarantee local government autonomy in Nigeria by ensuring relevant sections of the Nation’s constitution are repealed and assented to as soon as possible as any delay by the Assemblies would be seen by Nigerians as sabotage and all Assembly members become saboteurs of national heritage, cohesion and progress. Therefore, all hands must be on deck by all stakeholders to ensure genuine autonomy for local authority.
President,
Rights and Freedom Advocates (RIFA)
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