Six months after the Supreme Court granted financial autonomy to local governments across the country, the judgment’s implementation remains pending.
On July 11, 2024, the Supreme Court issued a landmark ruling affirming the financial independence of the 774 local government areas and prohibiting governors from controlling funds allocated to the councils.
The court also instructed the Accountant-General of the Federation to directly remit local government allocations to their accounts, declaring the failure of the 36 states to do so unconstitutional.
Despite this ruling, financial autonomy has not been enforced six months later.
Speaking with Sunday PUNCH, the President of the National Union of Local Government Employees, Hakeem Ambali, said the Federation Account Allocation Committee was responsible for the delay in direct allocations to local governments.
“There is a delay because FAAC has not given the instruction. ALGON is ready to comply with every instruction. In fact, the CBN itself can do that directly.
“The point is, there is a judgment, and since it is a Supreme Court judgment, there should be no confusion about that. FAAC itself should know what is right. We are calling on Mr President to please stand on business. We are happy with what he has been doing,” Ambali said.
He pleaded with President Tinubu to ensure that politicians did not frustrate local government autonomy.
“This is already six months since the government secured the landmark judgment.
“The technical committee that was set up has sent the document to the President. We concluded the process over a month ago. We are grateful that the President started well, but we need him to please stand and see the implementation to completion. The President should not allow cabals to come in the way of implementation,” the NULGE president said.
On August 20, the Federal Government established a 10-member inter-ministerial committee to oversee the implementation of the Supreme Court’s ruling on local government autonomy.
The committee’s main objective was to ensure local governments were granted full autonomy, enabling them to operate effectively without interference from state governments.
Waffi TV has learned that the technical committee has submitted the implementation document to President Tinubu for approval.
If approved, local governments across the country will begin receiving their allocations directly from the FAAC.
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