The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, AGF, Prince Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), has threatened to seek a contempt of court suit against state governors who are defiant to the Supreme Court judgment on local government autonomy. The AGF made this known yesterday in Abuja, during the 2024 annual conference of the National Association of Judiciary Correspondents.
The Supreme Court, had on July 11, 2024, delivered a landmark judgment affirming the financial autonomy of the 774 local government areas in the country restraining state governors from further meddling with funds meant for the councils.
Similarly, the apex court also directed the Accountant-General of the Federation to pay local government allocations directly to their accounts instead and declared the non-remittance of funds by the 36 states as unconstitutional.
In a suit marked SC/CV/343/2024, aimed at strengthening local government autonomy as guaranteed by the constitution, Fagbemi also obtained a court order preventing governors from unilaterally dissolving democratically elected local government councils and establishing caretaker committees.
The Supreme Court also upheld the suit brought before it by the Federal Government to strengthen the independence of local governments in the country.
However, five months down the lane, the Federal Government has refused compliance on the direct payment of allocations to the local government, as directed by the apex court.
It was learned that the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, said the Federal Government was yet to commence direct payment to the respective LGs due to some “practical impediments.”
According to the minister, the Federal Government faced challenges implementing the ruling on local government financial autonomy, with concerns over its impact on salary payments and operational viability.
Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, had raised concerns over the judgment, where he called for a homegrown solution to ensure the people did not suffer.
Makinde said, “The law is the law and when there is a conflict, yes, we should go to the court. But it behoves us to look for our own homegrown solutions that can ensure that we have transparency and that our people do not suffer. This is because when two elephants are fighting, it is the grass that will suffer”.
Accordingly, most of the state governors have refused compliance with the apex court directive.
In defiance to the apex court judgement, Anambra State House of Assembly passed the Local Government Administration Bill 2024 on Tuesday, October 8, 2024, amid condemnation from civil society groups and opposition parties.
Section 13(1) of the said bill stipulates that the state shall maintain a “State Joint Local Government Account,” against the Supreme Court verdict and into which all federal allocations to LGAs must be paid.
Section 14(3) further mandates that each LG must, within two working days of receiving their allocations from the Federation Account, remit a state-determined percentage to the consolidated account. This requirement applies even if the allocations are received directly from the Federation Account.
Section 14(4) outlines that if the state receives the LGA allocation on their behalf, it must deduct the specified percentage before disbursing the remaining funds to the LGA.
Labour Party members in the assembly kicked against the bill, saying, “Some sections of the bill, particularly sections 13, 14 and 16, seek to compel the Local Governments to pay their federal allocation into an account to be established by the state government, have gone aginst the Supreme Court judgment.
The bill was later signed by Governor Chukwuma Soludo on October 15, 2024.
Soludo justifies his kangaroo action that granting full autonomy to Nigeria’s 774 local government areas could lead to “humongous chaos,” arguing that such a move would not result in sustainable development.
He said, “The new laws by Anambra House of Assembly are, therefore, consequential to give operational life to the Supreme Court judgment and not to undermine it.
Contrary to the move by the Anambra State Assembly, the Nasarawa State House of Assembly, similarly on October 14, 2024, passed a bill to restructure the local government system in the state to conform to the recent ruling of the Supreme Court granting financial autonomy to the third tier of government.
The bill was signed by Governor Abdullahi Sule on November 4, 2024.
Addressing newsmen, Chairman of the House Committee on Information, Jonah Ali, said, “The amendment of the LG law will, among other things, abolish the existing joint accounts as well as abolish the state Ministry for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs.”
The Senate has in October 9, 2024, affirmed the Supreme Court judgment of July 11, 2024, which granted financial autonomy to the 774 local government areas across the country.
The lawmakers faulted moves by some governors to enact contrary laws to mandate the local government councils in their states to remit allocations into a joint account.
The Red Chamber urged all three tiers of government to fully comply with the apex court judgment and resolved to collaborate with the House of Representatives to amend certain provisions of the 1999 Constitution to ensure full implementation.
The Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, highlighted Section 162, Subsection 6 of the 1999 Constitution, which created the State/Local Government Joint Account.
“I am aware that some states have embarked on legislations, promulgation of legislations which appear to be antithetical to the tenets or tenor of the judgment of the Supreme Court.
The AGF insisted that the action of some state governors have gone contrary with the ruling of the Supreme Court.
The AGF warned saying that “My simple comment is that the states concerned are advised not to tread within the precincts of contempt of court,” he said.
The AGF said that it did not bring legal action against any sub-national government lightly, but added that constitutional provisions must be respected.
“It does not give anybody any joy to drag any of the sub-nationals to court, whether the High Court, Court of Appeal, or Supreme Court.
“But you must also take cognisance of the fact that the constitution is there to attend to any concern expressed by anybody or claim of right.”
Highlighting the constitutional breach, the AGF pointed out that some states’ actions had led to the starvation of local government councils, preventing them from fulfilling their constitutional duties.
“Some states have, by their various illegal actions, starved local government councils to the extent that most of them cannot exercise their constitutional powers or perform their statutory functions.
“This is one type of government inhumanity to another type of government,” he said.
The AGF invoked Section 1(2) of the Nigerian Constitution, which asserts that the Federal Republic of Nigeria shall not be governed except by the constitution.
“That was what motivated me in asking the Supreme Court to say that it is treason on the part of the governors to try and take over other than the way the constitution has prescribed,” he stated.
Meanwhile he cautioned state attorneys-general to avoid actions that could attract scrutiny from the Legal Practitioners’ Disciplinary Committee for professional misconduct.
He reminded his learned colleagues the consequences of bypassing constitutional rulings which may result to unethical conduct from the gate keepers of the law.
AGF said, “My colleagues at the sub-nationals should not also invite what I would call the attention of the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee for misconduct”.
Fagbemi also cautioned local government chairmen across the country against mismanaging or looting public funds.
The AGF stressed that the autonomy granted to local government areas by the Supreme Court was for the purpose of empowering the grassroots and not for carting public funds into private pockets, as such an attitude would not go unpunished.
He warned, “If they (LG chairmen) choose to tamper with public funds and fail to deliver on their constitutional mandates, they risk going to jail. The trust placed in them must not be betrayed,”