LG autonomy: Senate to amend constitution to institutionalise S/Court judgement

Tamarauemi Ebimini

The Senate has resolved to initiate amendments to sections of the 1999 Constitution to grant full autonomy to local government administration across the country.

This is even as it urged state Houses of Assembly and governors to comply with the Supreme Court judgement regarding local government autonomy, particularly concerning council finances.

The Deputy Senate President, Barau Jibrin, announced these resolutions after a closed-door session, where senators discussed efforts by some state governments to undermine the Supreme Court’s ruling from July 11.

The Supreme Court had granted autonomy to all 774 local government areas in Nigeria following a suit filed by the federal government, represented by the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation.

During the plenary, Senator Tony Nwoye (LP, Anambra North) raised concerns through orders 41 and 51 of the Senate Standing Rules, alleging that some state Houses of Assembly were enacting laws to obstruct the implementation of the Supreme Court judgement. Nwoye’s motion was co-sponsored by ten other senators.

He specifically accused certain state governors of using their state assemblies to pass laws requiring local government councils to deposit funds into joint state/local government accounts.

Before the closed-door session, Senator Adamu Aliero (PDP, Kebbi Central) raised a constitutional point of order, arguing that the Senate should refrain from debating the issue since the Supreme Court judgement is enforceable nationwide. Aliero stated, “There is no need for us to debate anything that has to do with it here.”

Senate President Godswill Akpabio supported Aliero, highlighting Section 162(6) of the 1999 Constitution.

Following this, senators began moving toward Akpabio for personal contributions, prompting the Senate to convene an emergency closed-door session, resulting in the resolutions announced later.

Daily Trust reported on Wednesday that Governor Charles Soludo of Anambra state has presented a bill before the state House of Assembly which will among others compel local government areas (LGAs) to remit a portion of their federal allocations into a consolidated account controlled by the state.

While the governor defended the bill, asserting that it does not contravene the Supreme Court’s judgment on local government autonomy, members of the Labour Party caucus in the State House of Assembly have distanced themselves from the bill. They argued that the bill, if passed, would allow the state government to share in funds meant for local government councils, potentially undermining their financial independence.