AFRICA

Makinde Dismisses Supreme Court’s Judgment on Local Government Autonomy As ‘Distraction’

The Governor of Oyo State, Seyi Makinde has described the Supreme Court’s judgment on local governments’ financial autonomy as a distraction, saying the country must face the real issues.

This is just as the pan-Yoruba socio-political and cultural association, Afenifere, has condemned the judgment, saying it was a judicial conspiracy against true federalism and democracy.

The apex Yoruba group also described the creation of the Ministry of Livestock Development as an audacious euphemism for the re-introduction of cattle colony, RUGA, and those other policies by which the former President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration sought to appropriate lands in the states.

The Supreme Court had on Thursday declared that it is unconstitutional for state governors to hold funds allocated for local government administrations.

The court further declared that a state government has no power to appoint a caretaker committee, declaring that a local government council is only recognisable with a democratically elected government.

But speaking when he hosted the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) executives, led by the President, Chief Chris Isiguzo, at the secretariat, Ibadan, the state capital, Makinde said the judgment was a distraction and called on his colleagues to focus on productivity rather than being distracted by the judgment.

He said: “There was a judgment at the Supreme Court – local government autonomy, financial autonomy and I will still say it. I think it’s just a distraction.

“We must face the real issues that we have, and the issue that we have is that we are not producing enough; we are not productive.

“Whatever it is we are sharing in Abuja, which is what this FAAC is all about or whatever is in Abuja ‘share it with the local governments.’ Is that our problem?

“Maybe it is a part of the problem, but yes, you want to have value for what you want to share, but our real problem is productivity.

“But now this is going to be the discussion for the next month when the issue of hunger and anger in the land will still be under the table; it’s a big issue.

“The federal government is saying we have to import food; it’s a big shame; it’s a big shame on this country that we cannot feed ourselves.

“And then we are saying we should go back to those things that will allow us to bring confidence back to our people, and to ensure that this country is back on the path of growth and progress,” Makinde explained.

Also reacting to the judgment, Afenifere, in a statement issued on Saturday by its leader and the National Public Secretary, Chief Ayo Adebanjo, and Prince Justice Faloye, respectively, described the apex court’s judgment as a mere judicial conspiracy.

The statement was titled: ‘Tinubu and the grand conspiracy against democracy and true federalism in Nigeria.’

According to the group, the judgment was against the principle of true federalism.

It added that the Supreme Court had played to the gallery in delivering such a judgment.

The statement read, “Afenifere views the judgment of the Supreme Court in the case filed by the Federal Government on the so-called local government autonomy as a sheer judicial conspiracy in cahoots with the Tinubu’s administration against the Nigerian state and its foundational principles of federalism.

“Rather than interpret the constitution to uphold its elementary but overriding federal principle, which recognises only a two-tier federal structure of the central government and federating states, the Supreme Court played to the gallery and wittingly allowed itself a most retrogressive declaration that the power of the government is portioned into three arms of government, the federal, the state and the local government.

“For the avoidance of any doubt, Afenifere makes bold to say that in line with its negotiated basis of existence, Nigeria is a ‘Federation consisting of states and a Federal Capital Territory’ as affirmed by Section 2 (2) of the 1999 Constitution. While Afenifere frowns at corruption and misuse of public funds at levels of government, it condemns in most unmistaken terms the subjugation of the states and their constitutional roles including the local government system to the whims and caprices of the federal government by any means including obvious manipulation of the federation account as in the present case.”

The group also alleged that the ongoing administration of Tinubu had been practising a unitary system in some of its policies since its inception. It maintained that the only way forward for the country was to practise true federalism.

“It is becoming stridently eloquent that with just over a year of its inauguration, the Tinubu government, more than even the military administrations, is uncannily determined to unitarise the Nigerian Federation.

“Part of the unitary package is the creation of the Ministry of Livestock Development, which is the audacious euphemism for the re-introduction of cattle colony, RUGA, and those other policies by which the Buhari’s administration sought to appropriate lands in the states contrary to the provisions of the Land Use Act and the Constitution, which vest land in the state in the Governor in trust for the people.

“Afenifere insists that the way forward for Nigeria is not the confusing rudderless tinkering but a holistic restructuring of the polity to re-enact the fundamental principles of true federalism as agreed by the founding fathers. This includes the fact that the local government system is an exclusive preserve of the states, either by direct constitutional provisions or residual powers in a federation,” the group explained.

Chuks Okocha and Kemi Olaitan