The Federal Government may withhold monthly Federation Account Allocation of 287 local government areas from northern Nigeria.
This is following the historic Supreme Court ruling that granted local governments in Nigeria financial autonomy.
The Supreme Court also held that LG allocations should no longer be paid through the state government. The Apex Court also ruled that appointing caretaker chairpersons in place of elected executive chairmen at the local level is illegal and unconstitutional.
The Court further decided that the allocation “must be paid to local government councils that are democratically elected,” the court further declared.
Justice Emmanuel Agim-led Supreme Court Justices delivered the judgement in a suit filed by the federal government against the state governments, seeking full autonomy for 774 Local Government Councils in the country.
State and local governments operate a joint account called State-LGA Joint Account. The arrangement allowed the state governments to control the resources of their LGAs despite being a different tier of government in the Nigeria’s three-tier federal arrangements.
The judgment, which affects near 500 LGAs in 22 states in Nigeria, include 287 LGAs across 13 Northern states.
WikkiTimes analysis indicates that there are 287 LGAs in 13 states across the three geopolitical zones in the North that currently have unelected officials running the affairs of the third tier of government.
Breakdown
The findings reveal that Northwest has 163 LGAs, the highest number of unelected officials at local level, followed by the North Central with 88 LGAs and North East having just 36 LGAs.
The breaking down further shows that Kano and Katsina in the North west are leading with 44 and 34 local councils respectively. Other states in the region include Jigawa 27 with LGAs, Sokoto with 23 LGAs, Kebbi 21 with LGAs, and Zamfara with 14 LGAs.
In the North Central, Kogi and Benue top the list with 21 LGAs each, followed by Plateau with 17 LGAs, Kwara with 16 LGAs, and Nasarawa with 13 with LGAs.
The breakdown for the North East shows that it has least number of LGAs that may be affected. Bauchi and Taraba share the total 36 LGAs 20 and 16 respectively.
WikkiTimes observes that consequent to the landmark ruling, many states have already shown commitment to conducting local government polls.
A Lagos-based senior lawyer, Femi Falana, stated that the judgment reinforces the Constitution’s provision on local government autonomy and promotes responsible governance.
Falana, in an interview with the Vanguard, explained there is a need for Nigerians to demand transparency and accountability from local governments, ensuring effective utilization of funds for development purposes.
He, however, argued that the judgment is not a setback for federalism, as some have argued, but rather a call for accountability and responsible governance.
It has been advanced for long that denying the third tier to freely operate often stifle development at the local level.
The opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has welcome the judgment as important in strengthening democracy in Nigeria.
