THE Nigerian Senate has adopted a motion to compel state governors to comply with a recent Supreme Court ruling which granted full financial autonomy to local government councils.
During its plenary session on Wednesday, October 9, the Senate urged all states and local governments to fully implement the Supreme Court’s July 2024 ruling.
The motion was sponsored by the Labour Party (LP) senator for Anambra North Senatorial District, Tony Nwoye, who emphasised the need for adherence to the rule of law to foster democratic principles at the local government level.
Nwoye said his motion had the support of nine other senators who co-sponsored it.
He highlighted that certain state governments were attempting to undermine the Supreme Court judgment by passing conflicting laws through their respective state Houses of Assembly.
The lawmaker pointed out that despite the Supreme Court’s clear ruling, several governors were already leveraging their legislative bodies to create laws that would require local government councils in their states to deposit funds into the state/local government joint account—a practice explicitly prohibited by the Supreme Court’s decision.
The motion was seconded by Osita Izunaso (APC Imo West).
The ICIR reported that the apex court’s ruling restored financial and administrative independence to the nation’s 774 local government areas (LGAs) and also compelled state governments to hold elections.
This marked a departure from the previously pervasive practice of appointing caretaker committees who were mainly the governors’ stooges and tools for squirrelling public funds.
Senate’s Resolutions
Meanwhile, following a mild drama in the Senate due to the motion raised by Nwoye, the Nigerian Senate resolved to call on the Nigerian governors to respect the judgment of the Supreme Court on the disbursement of funds to all the local governments in Nigeria.
The Senate resolution read, “That all states and local governments should fully comply with the recent Supreme Court judgment on the disbursement and utilisation of funds accruing to all local governments in Nigeria.
“That the Senate ensures alterations to relevant provisions of the Constitution to provide for the full autonomy of the local governments in Nigeria.”
Addressing the plenary after the senators unanimously approved the voice vote, the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, declared that all states and tiers of government in the federation must immediately comply with recent Supreme Court rulings, particularly those related to local government accounts.
He stressed that local government funds should be directed straight to the local government administrations for the betterment of Nigerians.
Akpabio said, “In other words, the Nigerian Senate stands strongly behind the Supreme Court’s position on its efforts, through judicial pronouncement, to sanitise the administration of local governments in the country and stop further abuse of local government councils…
“In addition to that, we have looked at the motion (as earlier presented by Nwoye), and we agreed that some of the prayers in the motion are such that could conflict with existing regulations, including the constitution.
“We believe strongly that if there is any legacy that this administration will leave behind, including the 10th Senate, it is the legacy of sanitising the local governments.”
Mustapha Usman is an investigative journalist with the International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: musman@icirnigeria.com. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M