Abuja, July 11, 2024 – It is unconstitutional for state governors to withhold funds designated for local government administrations.
The Supreme Court of Nigeria gave this ruling in a landmark judgement it delivered on the financial autonomy of local governments in Abuja on Thursday.
In its lead judgment read by Justice Emmanuel Agim, the apex court said this age-old practice of state governors withholding local governments’ funds contravened financial autonomy rights of local governments.
The court ruled that all allocations from the Federation Account should henceforth be paid directly to the 774 local government councils across the country, rather than being filtered through state governors.
The suit was initiated by the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), Lateef Fagbemi, on behalf of the federal government to safeguard financial autonomy of the local governments as enshrined in the 1999 Constitution.
The federal government also sought an order to restrain state governors from unilaterally, arbitrarily, and unlawfully dissolving democratically elected local government leaders in their respective states. (GBN)
