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The Federal Government has said it will examine state laws on the conduct of local government polls, as well as scrutinise why some state governments have delayed the conduct of their LG elections.
The Attorney General of the Federation, Mr Lateef Fagbemi, who disclosed this in Ekiti on Tuesday, said there was no going back on the Federal Government’s plan to implement the Supreme Court ruling on LG autonomy.
Currently, no fewer than 164 LGS in eight states have yet to conduct elections. There have been reports President Bola Tinubu may implement the Supreme Court ruling by the end of October. This means the affected LGs may have their federal allocations seized by the Federal Government, in line with the court ruling.
The LGAs that have yet to hold their polls are in Ondo, Osun, Katsina, Cross Rivers, Nasarawa, Abia, Ogun and Zamfara states.
According to findings, there are 18LGAs in Ondo, 30 in Osun, 34 in Katsina, 18 in Cross Rivers, 13 in Nasarawa, 17 in Abia, 20 in Ogun and 14 LGAs in Zamfara.
The Supreme Court ruling indicates that it is illegal and unconstitutional for governors to continue to receive or retain funds allocated to the local councils under the State and Local Government Joint Account.
Early this month, The PUNCH exclusively reported that state governors were opposing the enforcement of the verdict, even as the report from the 10-member inter-ministerial committee on implementing the Supreme Court ruling regarding Local Government Area autonomy was set for submission this week.
The panel, headed by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume, has concluded its assignment and is expected to submit its report on or before October 13, according to PUNCH findings.
Last week, Anambra State Governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, after signing the Anambra State Local Government Administration Law, warned that granting full autonomy to the country’s 774 LGs could lead to “humongous chaos,” arguing that such a move would not result in sustainable development.
“The absolute autonomy to the 774 Local Government Areas in the country is impossibility. In fact, it is a recipe for humongous chaos. The attendant challenges before the issue of local government autonomy are such that would certainly deepen the fate of the system and spell doom for the expected beneficiaries of the process if not well planned,” Soludo stated.
But Attorney General of the Federation, Fagbemi, while speaking in Ado Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital on Tuesday, said implementation of the apex court verdict was sacrosanct.
Fagbemi, who said he would not comment until he saw the law, stated, “Are they going to re-write the judgment of the Supreme Court? When we get the full tenure of their law, we will take appropriate action.”
He dismissed insinuations that a three-month moratorium was given to state governments before the implementation of the Supreme Court judgment, which granted autonomy to the local governments.
The AGF said, “Unfortunately I know it has been in the media, that they were given three months, which is not the position. The position is that, yes, the judgment was delivered, but we felt that there is a need to put some things in place before the full implementation. That it is going to be implemented is sacrosanct, nobody can run away from it.
“The question is, are there some things we need to put in place such that we will not run into problems when we start the full implementation of the judgment of the Supreme Court?”
He added, “There is no moratorium, moratorium for what? You know that before now, some states have slated their elections for beyond October.
“What we want to look at is, were they genuine when they said they were fixing the election beyond October? When did they first moot the idea? What is the law of their state, however imperfect it may be? What does the law of the state say?
“For instance, in the conduct of elections in some states, they will give six months’ notice. If they don’t do that, we know that no matter the kind of election you conduct, the court will nullify it. If we now say we just want to go the whole hog, then there will be a problem.
“We don’t want to go back to square one, that is why we are treading cautiously, otherwise I am saying categorically that there is no moratorium for anybody. I know that one or two states that are trying to commit contempt of court.”
Under former President Muhammadu Buhari, the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit issued a regulation, effective June 1, 2019 banning transactions on State and Local Governments Joint Accounts. Funds were sent directly to the accounts of the local governments. It also limited cash withdrawals from local government accounts to a maximum amount of N500,000 per day with penalties for banks that failed to comply.
However, state governors, under the aegis of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum, kicked against this regulation and the NFIU eventually capitulated.
In May, the Federal Government, represented by Fagbemi, filed a lawsuit to challenge the governors’ authority to receive and withhold federal allocations meant for Local Government Areas.
The suit sought to prevent state governors from unilaterally dissolving democratically elected local government councils and establishing caretaker committees. The AGF argued that the constitution mandated a democratically elected local government system and did not allow alternative governance structures.
The Supreme Court, on July 11, 2024, gave a landmark judgment affirming the financial autonomy of the 774 LGs in the country and ruled that governors could no longer control funds meant for the councils.
The seven-member Supreme Court panel, led by Justice Garba Lawal, ruled that it was illegal and unconstitutional for governors to manage and withhold LG funds.
The apex court also directed the Accountant-General of the Federation to pay LG allocations directly to their accounts, as it declared the non-remittance of funds by the 36 states unconstitutional.
Also, on August 20, the Federal Government instituted a 10-member inter-ministerial committee to implement the Supreme Court’s ruling on local government autonomy.
The committee members include the Minister of Finance, Wale Edun; AGF Fagbemi; Minister of Budget & Economic Planning, Abubakar Bagudu; Accountant-General of the Federation; Oluwatoyin Madein and the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Olayemi Cardoso.
Others are the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Finance, Mrs Lydia Jafiya, the Chairman, Revenue Mobilisation Allocation & Fiscal Commission, Mohammed Shehu, and representatives of state governors and the local governments.
Revenue allocations to the 774 LGAs surged by 46.91 per cent to N2.35tn in August 2024 from N1.599tn recorded in August 2023.
According to the data, N288.93bn was distributed in January, N278.04bn was given to the LGAs in February, N267.15bn in March, N288.69bn in April, N293.82bn in May, N282.48bn in June. The allocation further increased to N343.7bn in July and N306.53bn in August.
Speaking with one of our correspondents, Osun State Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, Kolapo Alimi, said local government allocation for LGs could not be stopped since date for election had already been fixed.
Alimi, said traditional rulers, teachers and local government staff who collected their salaries from the local government allocation would not be made to suffer, adding that the state would find a way to resolve the issue.
“We have election in view. It is from the local government allocation that traditional rulers, primary school teachers and local government staff are paid. We don’t have caretaker leadership in LG. Career officers are the ones running the council presently.
So, we don’t believe our allocation will be stopped. We believe we will continue to receive allocation for local governments till February when we will hold our elections. If any other thing happens, when we get to that bridge, we will know how to cross it.”
Similarly, the Ogun State President of the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees, Bayo Adefesobi, said the union was in constant engagement with the state government over the implementation of the LG autonomy.
Adefesobi said, “We don’t have problems with the implementation of LG autonomy in the state. We are constantly in touch with the government and requisite provision has been made to ensure that the workers do not suffer any inconveniences, so no problem at all.”
Meanwhile, Ogun State Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Ganiyu Hamzat, said the state already fixed its local government elections for November 16 and that there was nothing to be anxious about.
When informed about the likelihood of the Federal Government withholding its allocation to LGs in states without democratically elected officials, Hamzat said, “When we get to the bridge we shall cross it.”
The Ekiti State Commissioner for Information, Taiwo Olatunbosun, said that the Local Council Development Areas in the state were part of the local governments where they were carved from.
Olatunbosun said, “Ekiti does not have problem with the Federal Government paying local governments directly. We believe that the local governments still remain the local governments and we only have administrative development councils which are still part of the local governments that will collect the money.
“So, for as long as a local government get its money, the money is for the entire local government, which comprised the local government and the LCDA(s) from it.
“We did not bifurcate to a level of taking any part of a local government to another local government in the course of having the LCDAs. So, the money for the local government will still be spent by the local government,” Olatunbosun said.
However, the Ondo State chapter of the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees expressed worry over the funding of the 18 council areas.
The state government had fixed January 18, 2025 for the conduct of its LG elections.
The state President of NULGE, Frederick Akinrinlola, said the union was a bit worried over the development but it had met with the state governor Mr Lucky Aiyedatiwa, who assured them that there would not be a problem.
“We have met with the governor about it and he told us that he had met with the Presidency, maybe they would give him a waiver because of the peculiarity of the situation now. By next month, there would be a governorship election; that is why they shifted the LG election to January.
“Since he has done that , I don’t think our allocation will be stopped. The most important thing is that nothing must affect our salaries,” Akinrinlola stated.
Also, the Senior Special Assistant to Governor Aiyedatiwa on Strategic Communication, Mr Allen Sowore, stated, “The state government’s primary focus is now on preparing for the local government elections scheduled for January 18, 2025. The governor has consistently reiterated his commitment to upholding the rule of law. As the highest court in the land, the Supreme Court’s ruling will be fully adhered to.
“Currently, transition committees are in place at the local government level in Ondo. With the local government autonomy, funding will come directly from the Federation Account to each LGA. This is the position established by the Supreme Court, and it will be respected accordingly.
“The LG is a department of the state and the governor is running an all-inclusive government. Everyone, agencies, departments and parastatals will be carried along.”
On his part, the Director General, Media and communications, Government House, Gusau, Nuhu Anka, said arrangements were in top gear to conduct elections in the state.
“The state government will do everything possible within its powers to pay the salaries of local government employees,” Anka said.
Also in his reaction, Zamfara NULGE boss, Sanusi Gusau, expressed optimism that the salaries of the local government workers would surely be paid even if there were no elected chairmen.
“The constitution says election into offices of the local government chairmen and councillors can only be conducted after 60 days’ notice.
“So, I think the state government is going to ask the caretaker committee chairmen to hand over to the Directors of Personnel Management of the respective 14 local governments pending the elections.
“With this arrangement, the Directors of Personnel Management will now be in charge of the running affairs of their respective local governments and will be paying staff salaries until when the elections are conducted,” the NULGE chairman added.
