Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio has advised the 36 State Governors to respect the Supreme Court judgement that granted financial autonomy to all the 774 local government councils in the country.
This is just as the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Tajudeen Abbas has described the judgement as an impossibility that has become a reality.
Answering reporters’ questions on Thursday after meeting with President Bola Tinubu at the State House, Abuja, Akpabio said, “Recall that the request was placed before the courts by the AGF because the Federal Government through President Bola Tinubu feels strongly about separation of powers and the need for autonomy of all arms of governments.
“And so for us in the legislature, the Supreme Court has spoken and we have no option than to abide by the Supreme Court ruling.
“So, I will just call on all states of the federation to respect what the Supreme Court has done and then we will go back to the legislature and see where we can dot the i’s and cross the t’s to ensure the full implementation.
“Because you know the words of the Supreme Court are like the words of the king, they cannot go down to the ground without implementation.
“So I think this is a great day for democracy, and I congratulate the president for this initiative. And I know that all Nigerians now know that local government administration is an arm of government meant for the grassroots and their money should be for the grassroots.
“And definitely, local governments can now undertake projects on their own. So it’s a great day for democracy and is the beginning of great things to come.
“I have seen the judgement, I will study the judgement. But at the same time I advice there should be an impartial election at the local government level so that all the political parties can participate.
“At the moment there’s a lot of lethargy and nonchalant attitude by many political parties whose parties are not in power at the state level, they hardly partake in local government elections because of the perceived bandwagon effect and all that.
“So, is a great thing that the Supreme Court has done the needful and now we have to go back and think, working with the AGF’s office and the parliament to see how we can ensure that there’s real election at the LG levels.
“I think once that is done, everybody will have confidence. It’s progress for democracy and that is how it should be. So we congratulate the justices of the Supreme Court and we in the parliament are determined to make sure there’s enforceability.”
Also reacting, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Tajudeen Abbas, who described the judgement as an impossibility that has become a reality, said, “The members have been very happy because history has been made ,this is an issue that has been before the parliament for the past twenty years.
“All the constitutional amendments that were so far carried by the National Assembly ,one aspect of it has always been local government autonomy ,how to make the LG to work independently.
“Today, that impossibility became a reality, everyone is happy and we are looking forward to LG that will work functionally and that will be able to work on there own and extend goodwill to their own people undisturbed by the excesses by the state Governors.”
On his part, the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi said, “Naturally, one will be happy, should be happy, Nigerians are happy about it.
“I call it local government emancipation judgement because it has really emancipated the local government from the shackles of the past and I hope that local government officials will look at it as an opportunity to develop their various local governments.”
On how to ensure compliance to the part of the judgement that requires state governments to conduct elections for government areas, the AGF said: “The ball is in the court of the governors, let us see what they will come out with, but the judgement is clear as to what they should do, the judgement is clear as to what consequences will be attached to failure or refusal to follow the judgement of the Supreme Court, which takes immediate effect.”
Also speaking, Governor Charles Soludo of Anambra state welcomed the Supreme Court’s judgement granting financial autonomy to local governments, describing it as a great decision that aligns with his administration’s commitment to democracy and the rule of law.
Soludo, who spoke to journalists at the State House, Abuja, after meeting with President Tinubu Tinubu, dtressed the need for resources to reach the grassroots and promote accountability and transparency in public resource management.
He said: “That’s great. I mean, the Supreme Court is supreme, it’s the final authority and am a democrat. I believe in the rule of law and once the Supreme Court has spoken, it has spoken and I understand the Governors Forum is meeting to review this.
“I haven’t seen the document myself. I’ve been extremely, very busy all through the day, but I’ve seen snippets of it. But at a fundamental level, yes, we need resources to get down to the real grassroot and we need the people’s money to work for them at all levels, whether at the federal or the state and the local government.
“We need to promote accountability. We need to promote transparency in the utilization of public resources at all levels, to be able to lift the burden off the common manman”.
Soludo acknowledged that Anambra State has not held local government elections in a while, but reassured that his administration is committed to fulfilling its promise to conduct elections, having passed the Independent Electoral Commission law and established institutions to facilitate the process.
He, however, noted that a lingering litigation had hindered local government elections in the past, but expressed determination to resolve the issue and conduct elections as appropriate.
The Governor highlighted his administration’s efforts to ensure resources reach local governments, paying teachers, pensioners, and primary health workers.
His words: “Well, we will certainly. I mean when I was elected in office, that’s one of the things I promised our people because in Anambra, we haven’t had, to be honest with you, I think the first local government election we had was in 1998 or something thereabout and then the next one was in 2014 or 2013. And that was it. I mean, finished one and a half years or two years thereabout and even the institutions the place is quiet, not strengthened.
“So for me, I promised the people of Anambra that we’re going to have local government election, and I stated that in my inaugural speech. we’ve just passed the Independent Electoral Commission law of Anambra state and we’re putting together the institutions to be able to organize that. It is a promise I made like mentioned it before, and when I make a promise.
“I am serious about keeping. And even the way that that has been run so far, at least under my administration, the resources of the local government, we’ve made sure that the resources get down to the local governments to address their staff, i mean paying teachers, paying the pensioners, and paying primary health workers and, and so on and so forth.
“So, for my state, I mean, which is the other thing that is peculiar, is that there has been a lingering litigation, for example, that stopped local government elections in the past and that particular litigation is still in the courts, so to speak, we’re going to see how we handle all of that and to organize a local government election as appropriate.
“I’m a believer in having a democratic system. Like I said, I made a firm commitment to that and I don’t say what I will not do”.
Deji Elumoye
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