Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Dr. Alex Izinyon, has explained how Nigeria’s National Assembly can give effect to the landmark Supreme Court judgment on local government autonomy and LGA funds in the Federation Account.
He expressed his views in a statement shared with TheWitness on Wednesday, August 28, 2024, lamenting that over the years, lawmakers have allegedly looked away while the apex court pronounced unconstitutionality against Local Government Chairmen.
TheWitness previously reported that the Supreme Court had given its verdict following the federal government’s suit, which sought to stop the governors of 36 states from spending or tampering with the 20.6% allocation from the Federation Account to local government areas, among other reliefs targeting LG autonomy.
The apex court ruled that the allocations to joint state and local government accounts were merely procedural practices adopted in the past. It emphasized that it was not the intention of the 1999 Constitution for governors to retain funds due to the LGAs.
The court also declared that the amount allocated to and credited to Local Government Councils in the Federation Account could be paid directly by the Federation to democratically elected Local Government Councils, among other verdicts.
Despite the final verdict, the Attorney General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi, said recently that the FG was aware of the threats and noises of reprisal by some (not all) of the principalities affected by that judgment of the Supreme Court, maintaining that their actions amount to contempt of court.
On August 22, 2024, he urged the Attorneys-General of the affected states to educate and offer sound legal advice to the governors, stating that there can be no appeal against the decision of the Supreme Court.
“They should therefore abide by the principles and doctrines of the rule of law, which is the bedrock of constitutional democracy,” Fagbemi stated at a valedictory session at the apex court, attended by a TheWitness analyst.
Reacting to the development, Izinyon stated that it was in the interest of grassroots democracy, which is rooted in the Local Government Areas of Nigeria, that the Supreme Court of Nigeria had to once again pronounce on the issue of joint accounts, which have unleashed untold deprivation on the 774 Local Government Areas of the country for over two decades.
He stated that the Supreme Court’s view was to cure the mischief and incurable injury that had been done to the Local Government Area Councils, without the National Assembly doing the needful.
“It was therefore not surprising that the Supreme Court went into detail to review the antecedents of what had been happening.
“It interpreted the provision of Section 162(3) of the 1999 Constitution, and that it cannot mean that the State Governors would hold and disburse the funds on behalf of the Local Government Councils—the said money coming from the Federation Account—as subsections (6), (7), and (8) of the said Constitution stipulate that all monies belonging and due to Local Government Councils from the Federation Account should be distributed to the Local Government Councils in the State.
“After all, in cases where the Governors have been unconstitutionally sacking democratically elected Local Government Councils of the States, nothing had happened to correct these illegalities for many years by the National Assembly.”
He stressed that it would not serve the interest of justice to allow the perpetual economic iniquities against Local Government Area Councils by Governors, adding that the Supreme Court possesses the constitutional backing, in the prevailing circumstances, to give purposive interpretation to the law, instead of waiting for the National Assembly to do the needful at a time that may never come.
He advised lawmakers, who are vested with the powers of lawmaking, to now sponsor and pass legislation that captures the recent decision of the Supreme Court while ensuring accountability at the LGAs.
“What is left is for the National Assembly to proceed with the enabling legislation to give effect to this profound decision and make other adequate safeguards by legislation to ensure proper accountability, and for the relevant authorities to keep a close watch in case the Local Government Councils fall short of this golden opportunity,” he stated.
Following the Supreme Court verdict, the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) distributed N1.354 trillion in June revenue among the Federal Government, states, and Local Government Councils (LGCs).
This distribution occurred during the July 25, 2024, FAAC meeting in Abuja, chaired by Wale Edun, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy.
Edun informed the press at the time that the Supreme Court judgment could not be implemented because the actual proceedings had not yet been handed down to the Attorney-General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi, for review and implementation.
“They were not in the hands of the Attorney-General for him to start implementing,” he said, assuring that the Supreme Court judgment on local governments would be faithfully implemented.
Weeks later, on August 20, 2024, the federal government appointed a 10-man inter-ministerial committee comprising the Minister of Finance, Wale Edun, Governor of the Central Bank, Olayemi Cardoso, the AGF and seven others to enforce the Supreme Court judgment on local government autonomy delivered in July 2024.
There was no lawmaker in the 10-man committee, implying that the implementation, for now, is an executive-only effort.
