The Supreme Court has today, reserved judgment in the suit filed by the Attorney-General of the Federation, AGF, and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN) on behalf of the Federal Government, against the 36 State Governors of the federation. The suit is seeking an enforcement of a full autonomy for all the 774 local governments across the country.
The suit, marked SC/CV/343/2024, is praying that the apex court to enforce the autonomy of the local government in Nigeria by, among other things, stop state governors from appointing caretaker committees to administer over local governments affairs in their states.
Accordingly, the Federal Government insisted that the Supreme Court should direct the withheld of the LG funds from the Federation Account and rule that any local government manned by a caretaker committee instead of a duly elected council chairman and councillors should have to forfeit such funds.
More so, it demands that the court should rule that funds meant for local governments from the Federation Account should be paid directly to them instead of through the state government to guarantee their autonomy.
The seven-man panel, of the apex court led by Justice Garba Lawal, announced that parties in the matter would be communicated when the judgment was ready after parties in the suit adopted their processes. Meanwhile, all 36 states in their response kicked against the FG’s suit and appealed to the court to trash the suit.
The AGF on his part has pleaded with the apex court to grant all the reliefs sought by the federal government in the suit.
The AGF said, “I adopt and rely on these processes. I urge my lords to overrule the various objections and grant the originating summons.”
Though, some states claimed they were denied a fair hearing by the court and were not served, the AGF clarified that copies of the affidavits were dispatched to the defendants via WhatsApp and emails.
He added that the court bailiff also served the defendants in their various state liaison offices in Abuja.
It was learned that the Federal Government in the suit, is praying the apex court to grant an order prohibiting state governors from the usual unilateral, arbitrary and unlawful dissolution of democratically elected local government leaders for local governments.”
In the suit predicted on 27 grounds, the Federal Government accused the state governors of gross misconduct and abuse of power.
In the originating summons, the federal government urged the Supreme Court to make an order expressly stating that funds standing to the credit of local governments from the Federation Account should be paid directly to the local governments instead of wiring it though the state governments.
The plaintiff also sought “an order stopping governors from constituting caretaker committees to run the affairs of local governments as against the constitutionally recognised and guaranteed democratic system.”
The AGF, therefore, urged the apex court to invoke sections 1, 4, 5, 7 and 14 of the Constitution to declare that the state governors and state Houses of Assembly are under obligation to ensure a democratic system at the third tier of government in Nigeria and to also invoke the same sections to hold that the governors cannot lawfully dissolve democratically elected local government councils.
The federal government also demands that “the dissolution of democratically elected local government councils by the governors or anyone using the state powers derivable from laws enacted by the state Houses of Assembly or any Executive Order is unlawful, unconstitutional, null and void.”