Abuja, Nigeria – The Senate convened an emergency closed-door session on Wednesday over a motion calling for the enforcement of financial autonomy for Nigeria’s 774 Local Government Councils, following a landmark Supreme Court ruling.
The motion, sponsored by Senator Tony Nwoye (LP – Anambra) and supported by nine other lawmakers, raised concerns about alleged attempts by some state governments to circumvent the Supreme Court’s judgement. Mr. Nwoye, citing orders 41 and 51 of the Senate rules, claimed that state Houses of Assembly were trying to enact alternative laws that would undermine the court’s decision on local government financial autonomy.
He accused certain governors of using their state legislatures to pass laws requiring local governments to remit funds into state/local government joint accounts, effectively negating the Supreme Court ruling. The motion received swift support from Senator Osita Izunaso (APC – Imo), who noted that Nigerians were eager for reforms in local government administration and warned against actions that would undermine the court’s judgement.
Senator Adamu Aliero (PDP – Kebbi), citing Section 287 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), emphasized the enforceability of Supreme Court rulings nationwide and urged the Senate to refrain from further debate on the matter.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio highlighted Section 162, sub-section 6 of the 1999 Constitution, which establishes the state/local government joint account, suggesting that constitutional amendments may be necessary to ensure local government autonomy.
The deliberation reached a critical point when Nwoye and Senator Abdulrahman Kawu (NNPP – Kano) raised further constitutional points of order, prompting many senators to engage in personal consultations with the Senate President. This led to the Senate’s decision to resolve into an emergency closed-door session.
The Supreme Court’s July 11 ruling affirmed the financial autonomy of local government councils across the country. The court declared that local government allocations from the federation account should be paid directly to the councils, stating that the states’ retention of these funds was unconstitutional.
The case was initiated in May by the Federal Government, through Attorney-General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, accusing state governments of mismanaging local government finances and dissolving elected councils. The Supreme Court, led by Justice Mohammed Garba, ruled in favor of the Federal Government, asserting that the current system of remitting funds through the states had failed and must be corrected.