The Senate on Wednesday directed state governments to immediately comply with the July 11 Supreme Court judgment on local government autonomy.
The Supreme Court’s ruling concerns local government accounts and the direct funding allocated to them.
The resolution emerged from a closed-door session, where lawmakers discussed attempts by certain state governments to undermine the Supreme Court’s decision from July 11.
Deputy Senate President Senator Jibrin Barau announced this shortly after a close door session of the upper legislative arm.
Barau also disclosed that Senate has decided to initiate constitutional amendments aimed at granting full autonomy to local government administration across Nigeria in line with the Supreme Court judgment.
Senator Tony Nwoye from Anambra State spearheaded the urgent motion, highlighting the need to stop state governments from using their Houses of Assembly to pass laws that violate constitutional provisions and the Supreme Court’s judgment on local government financial autonomy.
The motion received support from 12 other senators who expressed concern over certain states’ attempts to circumvent the Supreme Court’s ruling through counter legislation.
The motion outlined that some state governments were subverting local government financial autonomy by inserting clauses into their laws.
These clauses require local governments, upon receiving allocations from the Federation Account, to remit substantial portions of their funds to dedicated accounts managed by the state governments, using terms like “state/LGA joint account” and “Local Government Joint Security Trust account.”
Senator Nwoye accused certain governors of manipulating their Houses of Assembly to enforce laws mandating local government councils to deposit funds into these joint accounts, contrary to the Supreme Court’s ruling.
In its landmark July 11 decision, the Supreme Court deemed it unconstitutional for state governors to withhold funds designated for local governments and prohibited them from dissolving democratically elected local government councils, emphasizing that such actions breach the 1999 Constitution.
(vitalnewsngr.com)
