2023 – 2027: Why local government autonomy will be Tinubu’s greatest achievement

The clamouring for independence of the financial  freedom of the third tiers of government should be embraced by state Governors and all stakeholders to decentralise the economy and bring development to people at the grassroots.

The Federal Government recently filed a suit at the Supreme Court seeking for full autonomy for the 774 local governments in the country. The court also ordered the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Lateef Fagbemi, to file his reply within two days, after receipt of their defence. Leading a seven-man panel, Justice Garba Lawal issued the order while ruling on an application for abridgement of time argued by the AGF.

Justice Lawal said that the decision of the court was predicated on the national urgency of the suit and the non-objection from the Attorneys General of the states of the Federation. The Supreme Court held that filing of all processes and exchanging of same must be completed within the time and subsequently fixed June 13 for hearing of the suit.

Justice Lawal ordered that the eight states that were not in attendance at Thursday’s proceedings must be served with fresh hearing notice.

The states whose Attorney’s General were absent in court, despite being served with hearing notice include Borno, Kano, Kogi, Niger, Ogun, Osun, Oyo and Sokoto. The Federal Government, through Fagbemi, is seeking full autonomy for all local government areas in the country. In the suit, the Federal Government specifically prayed the court to issue an order, prohibiting state governors from embarking on unilateral, arbitrary and unlawful dissolution of democratically elected local government leaders.

The suit is also asking for an order permitting the funds standing in the credits of local governments to be directly channelled to them from the federation account in line with the provisions of the constitution as against the alleged unlawful joint accounts created by governors.

The Federal Government also prayed the Supreme Court for an order stopping governors from further constituting caretaker committees to run the affairs of local governments as against the constitutionally recognised and guaranteed democratic system.

It equally applied for an order of injunction restraining the governors, their agents and privies from receiving, spending or tampering with funds released from the federation account for the benefits of local governments when no democratically elected local government system is put in place in the states.

Also, Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has urged the 36 state governors in the country and the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, Mr Nyesom Wike to “disclose details of federal allocations meant for local governments in your state and the FCT and the actual disbursement of the allocations to the local governments since the return of democracy in 1999.”

Through its communique, it stressed that “ensuring transparency and accountability in the actual disbursement and spending of federal allocations in your state would also improve the enjoyment by Nigerians of their right to natural wealth and resources.You have a legal responsibility to promote transparency and accountability in the actual disbursement and spending of federal allocations meant for local government areas in your state, and to ensure that the allocations are fully disbursed to the local governments.”

“SERAP is concerned that despite the country’s enormous oil wealth, ordinary Nigerians have derived very little benefit from oil money primarily because of widespread grand corruption, and the culture of impunity of perpetrators.

“Combating the corruption epidemic in the spending of federal allocations meant for local government areas in your state would alleviate poverty, improve access of Nigerians to basic public goods, and enhance the ability of the local governments to effectively and efficiently discharge their constitutional and statutory responsibilities.

“According to our information, the 36 states in Nigeria and the federal capital territory, Abuja, have collected over N40 trillion federal allocations meant for the 774 local governments areas in the country and FCT.

“The Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) disbursed to states N225.21 billion federal allocations meant for local governments in November 2023 alone. States also collected N258,810,449,711.47 federal allocations meant for local government areas in December 2023.

“However, there is opacity in the actual disbursement of federal allocations to the local government areas in your state. States and the FCT have over the years failed and/or refused to disclose the portion of federal allocations that are disbursed by state governors.”

It is widely known that the governors not only tamper with the federal allocations of the local governments but the 10 percent share of internally generated revenue, one of the reasons the States/Local Governments Joint Account was constitutionally created, is denied them too.

To cure these ills, therefore, the Federal Government wants the Supreme Court to give an order to expressly state that the funds of LGAs from the Federation Account should be paid directly to them, rather than through the state governments.

“In the face of the violation of the 1999 Constitution, the Federal Government is not obligated under Section 162 of the Constitution to pay any State funds standing to the credit of the local government where no democratically elected local government is in place,” reads one of the reliefs.

Under the Constitution, the building and administration of markets, motor parks, primary schools, waste disposal, primary healthcare delivery, transportation, rural roads maintenance, provision of signage, and maintenance of cemeteries and abattoirs, constitute the core services of local governments. But they no longer discharge these responsibilities due to the lack of funds. This aberration has created thousands of unproductive council workers who report at their offices only at the end of the month to collect salaries.

Over a decade,  the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON), founded in 1999, has brought this governance disorder to the front burner of national discourse without any remedy. The Seventh National Assembly initiated a legislative process for the autonomy of the LGAs, but the State Houses of Assembly, which are puppets of governors, smothered the effort with their opposition.

Not a few elected chairmen have been harassed, intimidated and hounded out of office for crying out loud against the disorder. Wale Adedayo, a journalist, who until August 2023 was the elected chairman of Ijebu-East LGA of Ogun State, was a recent victim. He had accused Governor Dapo Abiodun of diverting council funds, which the governor denied.

Nigeria cannot have emperors as governors, with lawmakers easily bribed for due processes of democracy to be subverted, and still pretend that all is well. This charade or infidelity to the 1999 Constitution is partly due to the fact that it is not a product of “We the people,” as dubiously claimed in its prefatory declaration. It is a document forced on Nigerians by a departing military regime. For this reason, there is a growing advocacy for it to be changed with one made by the autochthonous entities of Nigeria, which would reflect the true values of federalism.

Until this is achieved, the provisions of the Constitution, which grants autonomy to the local governments – to make decisions on how they spend their money or run their affairs, should remain sacrosanct.

Pertinently, the glorious achievement of President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda lies in formidable and resilient determination in ensuring that this suit sees the light of the day and it is won for the masses. Once the local government gains financial autonomy and administrative freedom the second term of President Tinubu will just be a crossover.