PeakNews Online
Abuja, Nigeria – In a landmark judgment on Thursday, the Supreme Court of Nigeria granted full financial autonomy to the country’s 774 local governments, significantly altering the power dynamics between state and local authorities.
A seven-man panel of the apex court delivered a unanimous decision, prohibiting state governors from appointing caretaker committees to manage local governments. The ruling declared such appointments unconstitutional and illegal, thereby ensuring that only democratically elected officials can administer local councils.
The court’s decision effectively stops governors from receiving or retaining funds allocated to local governments under the State and Local Government Joint Account. This ruling came in the case SC/CV/343/2024, filed by the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), against the 36 state governors.
The Attorney-General sued the governors through their respective state attorneys-general, seeking to end the governors’ control over local council allocations. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, local governments received N2.6 trillion from the Federal Accounts Allocation Committee between January and December 2023. In the first five months of 2024, they have received an additional N1.42 trillion.
Several states, including Rivers, Ondo, Osun, and Plateau, which currently run their local governments with caretaker committees, may see their council allocations withheld following this judgment.
The Attorney-General’s suit was based on the assertion that the Nigerian Constitution recognizes federal, state, and local governments as three distinct tiers of government. He called for the direct allocation of funds from the federation account to local governments and an end to the unlawful dissolution of local government administrations and the appointment of caretaker committees by state governors.
The state governors opposed the suit, arguing that the Attorney-General lacked the legal standing to bring the case on behalf of the local governments. They urged the Supreme Court to dismiss the suit as incompetent.
In the lead judgment delivered by Justice Emmanuel Agim, the Supreme Court affirmed the tripartite structure of government, emphasizing that local governments must be administered by democratically elected officials. The court stated, “A democratically elected local government is sacrosanct and non-negotiable,” thereby ending the practice of appointing caretaker committees by state governors.
The court held that the use of caretaker committees violated the 1999 Constitution and barred state governors from receiving, retaining, or spending local government allocations. The Supreme Court ruled that the longstanding practice of states managing local government funds was a clear violation of section 162 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended.
The court concluded that funds from the federation account must be distributed directly to all three tiers of government, and local governments should have control over their finances. This ruling marks a significant step towards strengthening local governance and ensuring financial autonomy for local councils in Nigeria.
