The Forum of Local Government Chairmen in the All Progressives Congress (APC) has said governors in the governing party has nothing against compliance with the judgment of the Supreme Court on full autonomy for local councils.
Chairman of Chanchaga Local Government Council of Niger State, who incidentally is the Chairman of the Progressives Local Government Chairmen Forum, Dr Mustafa Jibril Alheri made the clarification while addressing journalists in Abuja.
Checks revealed that the Supreme Court had, in a judgment in July 2024, affirmed the financial autonomy of Nigeria’s 774 local governments.
In the unanimous judgement of its seven-member panel, the Supreme Court upheld the suit brought by the federal government to strengthen the independence of local governments in the country.
A member of the panel, Emmanuel Agim, who delivered the court’s lead judgement, held that the local governments across the country should receive their allocations directly from the Accountant-General of the Federation.
He ruled that it is illegal and unconstitutional for governors to receive and withhold funds allocated to Local Government Areas (LGAs) in their states.
Further checks revealed that the states have since prevaricated on their compliance with the judgement.
President Bola Tinubu, while speaking last December at the APC National Executive Committee meeting held last December, threatened the governors with the use of an executive order to ensure compliance with the judgment of the apex court.
But addressing journalists shortly after a meeting with the APC National Chairman, Professor Nentawe Yilwatda, Honourable Alheri, who led members of the Forum to the party national secretariat, declared that the governors were already complying with the judgment, submitting that the process has been gradual.
He maintained that the relationship between local government chairmen and the state governors in APC-controlled states has been very cordial and encouraging.
He said, ‘I want to also use this opportunity to assure you that we have the support of our governors. My own governor, the Governor of Niger State, Farmer Mohammed Umar Bago, is a strong supporter of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and one of the greatest leaders we have had regarding the issue of local government autonomy.
‘The President has been pursuing this for a very long time, and a lot of our states, especially the progressive states, are enjoying full autonomy. A lot of states are enjoying full autonomy, and this is a gradual process. It’s a transition process. It’s something that has been going on for a very long time.
‘The APC, as a party, has taken it upon itself, through the leadership of the President, to ensure that we get complete and full autonomy.
‘In Niger State, we are having all the support that we need from our governor, and most of the states under the Progressive Local Government leadership are also having very good support from their governors. We are transitioning jointly, slowly but surely, towards complete and full autonomy.
‘We are in collaboration with our governors. All the things that our governors are doing, we are signatories to them. It’s all for the development of the state, and we believe that surely the dream of Nigerians to see complete and full autonomy will come to pass across the whole of Nigeria, especially if all the other governors who are yet to join the APC eventually join the APC.’