Supreme Court Judgement on Local Government Autonomy, a Dangerous Precedent – Sesugh Akume

Today the Supreme Court of Nigeria held among other things that: unelected local government (caretaker) administrations are unlawful, unconstitutional, and therefore no governor (and/or House of Assembly) has the power to suspend or remove elected local government councils and/or to appoint unelected local government (caretaker) administrations. None of this is new, the Supreme Court has previously held so and reiterated so on numerous occasions over the years.

What is new in today’s judgement is that: allocations from the federation account are to be paid directly into individual local government accounts and no more through the State Local Government Joint Account (SLGJA). The means that the Supreme Court has nullified the section of the Constitution that created the joint account and its function. Second, only democratically-elected local government councils are be eligible to receive federation account allocations.

Today’s judgement is a huge relief and finally ends the abuse by governors in Nigeria thus paving the way for local governments to begin to operate as autonomous units providing the much needed public services to the people.

In my opinion, however, the duty of the court is to interpret the law not to write or rewrite it, as this remains the exclusive duty of the legislature. The aspect of today’s judgement whereby the Supreme Court repealed and/or nullified section 162 of the Constitution, in my view, is a dangerous precedent.

Today, local governments have financial and political autonomy but it is only the beginning of a long journey towards a holistic local government autonomy and properly-functioning local governments. For instance, states in Nigeria have laws that prevent local governments from employing staff. Staff at the local government, therefore, are usually employees of the state government under the Local Government Service Commission. Also, most local government departments cannot carry out their functions without approvals from the state government. These obnoxious laws and provisions will not go away because of today’s judgement.

The local governments also need to be made to be accountable, open and transparent for to whom much is given much is required.

Sesugh Akume

11 Jul, 2024

Abuja