The Federal Government of Nigeria has inaugurated a 10-man inter-ministerial committee with the mandate of enforcing the implementation of the Supreme Court judgment on local government autonomy.
The committee which was inaugurated by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator George Akume, will enforce the Supreme Court judgment delivered on July 11, granting financial autonomy to local governments in Nigeria.
Members of the committee include Secretary to the Government of the Federation, who is the Chairman; Minister of Finance & Coordinating Minister of the Economy; Attorney General of the Federation & Minister of Justice; Minister of Budget & Economic Planning; Accountant General of the Federation; Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria.
Others are Permanent Secretary (Federal Ministry of Finance); Chairman, Revenue Mobilization Allocation & Fiscal Commission; Representative of State Governors and Representative of Local Governments.
The Director, Information & Public Relations at the Ministry of Information, Segun Imohiosen, who made this known on Tuesday in a statement said, “The committee’s primary goal is to ensure that local governments are granted full autonomy, allowing them to function effectively without interference from state governments.
“This move is in line with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, efforts to give appropriate implementation to the provisions of the Constitution, which recognizes local governments as the third tier of government.”
Emporium Reporters in July reported that a Supreme Court ruling had directed that Nigerian Government must pay funds allocated to local governments directly into their accounts, which are managed by democratically elected officials.
In a landmark judgment delivered by Justice Emmanuel Agim, the court declared that it is unconstitutional for state governments to withhold and utilise allocations meant for local government areas without transferring the funds to them, as mandated by Section 162(3) of the Constitution.
This ruling aims to ensure that local governments receive their rightful allocations, promoting decentralisation and grassroots development.
The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), had filed a suit calling for local governments’ autonomy in the country.
The suit sought full autonomy for the local government areas in the country.
President Tinubu’s administration recently agreed with the 36 state governors in the country to shift the implementation of financial autonomy granted to 774 local government councils till October 2024.
It was learnt that the resolution came up last Monday after the federal government and state governors agreed to a three-month moratorium on local government autonomy, over concerns arising from its impact on salary payments and operational viability.
