The Supreme Court, on Thursday morning, ruled that it is unconstitutional for state governors to withhold funds budgeted for local government administrations.
The court held that the Federal Government should pay any money standing to the credit of the Local Governments in the Federation directly to the Local Government Areas managed by democratically elected officials.
Justice Emmanuel Agim, in a lead judgement, on the historic ruling also held that it is unconstitutional for state governments to retain and use allocation meant for the LGAs on their behalf without transferring the same to them as provided in Section 162(3) of the Constitution.
The apex court’s judgement followed a suit filed by the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Lateef Fagbemi, seeking full autonomy for the 744 LGAs in the country.
In the suit the Federal Government sought an order preventing the governors from arbitrarily dissolving democratically elected councils. The suit by the AGF was on 27 grounds.
Justice Agim said the AGF has the right to institute the suit and protect the constitution.
It maintained that the “dubious practice” which has gone on for over two decades, was an outright violation of Section 162 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended.
Justice Agim noted that the 774 local government councils in the country should manage their funds themselves.
“Demands of justice require a progressive interpretation of the law. It is the position of this court that the federation can pay LGA allocations to the LGAs directly or pay them through the states.
“In this case, since paying them through states has not worked, justice of this case demands that LGA allocations from the federation account should henceforth be paid directly to the LGAs,” the court ruled.
The apex court further declared unconstitutional the appointment of caretaker committees by state governors to run the affairs of the LGAs.
It held that the 36 states are under obligation to ensure democratic governance at the third tier of government.
The apex court’s judgement followed a suit filed by the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Lateef Fagbemi, seeking full autonomy for the 744 LGAs in the country.
The court had earlier dismissed preliminary objections the state governors filed to challenge the competence of the suit.