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On Thursday, July 11, 2024, the Supreme Court granted financial autonomy to the 774 local government areas in the country.
The ruling implies that state governments will no longer receive funds on behalf of local government councils as the court ordered the Federal Government to henceforth pay allocations directly to the councils from the federation account.
The court’s verdict is predicated on the argument that development at the grassroots is stunted because state governments abuse their powers by retaining and using LGA funds.
The apex court also outlawed the appointment of unelected officials to run local government affairs — a practice governors resort to whenever they dissolve democratically elected local government authorities.
Moreover, to cut state governments’ access to LGA funds, the court ordered the Federal Government to henceforth withhold allocations to LGAs governed by governors’ appointees.
As usual, Nigerians have taken to social media to react to the judgment, but popular sentiment indicates that the development is a welcome idea.
While the court’s ruling is intended to stimulate positive developments in local governments, public affairs analysts at civil society organisations explain the impact the judgment will have on grassroots development and administration in Nigeria.
Public affairs analysts' views
Like many Nigerians, Emmanuel Njoku, the Director of Democracy and Governance, Connected Development (CODE) considered the Supreme Court verdict a positive sign of development in local government areas.
Describing the verdict as a victory for democracy, Njoku said the development presents an opportunity for Nigerian youths to participate in grassroots politics, take up leadership roles, and effect a positive change.
He said, “This is good news for LGA development across Nigeria. I see an opportunity for young people to participate more in politics now. So this judgement should be a wake-up call for young people in the LGAs to join political parties massively, contest, and take over leadership at the local government level, which is the closest governance to the people. This Supreme Court judgement is a victory for democracy in Nigeria.”
Despite the Supreme Court’s acknowledgment of LGAs as an independent third tier of government, Njoku believes governors will still make moves to tamper with the financial autonomy of the local council authorities.
“The elephant in the room at this time will be party politicking; the control of State Independent Electoral Commissions; and their capacity to be truly independent to conduct credible elections,” he said.
Paul James, the Election Program Officer at YIAGA Africa also affirmed that the verdict is a positive development that would foster service delivery at grassroots levels.
In his submission, James believes the apex court’s judgement has put to rest, the argument on whether local government councils are valid third-tier of government or not.
“I think for us, we’ll say the decision represented significant steps towards empowering local government and ensuring service delivery at the local level. This is something we’ve been agitating for. This has gone over two decades when the campaign has been on for resources to get to the local governments directly.
“Now, I think for me, this ruling is a demonstration or the recognition of the independence of the local government system as a top tier of government. If you put this conversation in perspective, if you ask most state governors, you’ll be torn between the notion that we have three tiers of government and the governors also telling you that it might be so in principle, but not as that in application. But I hope this has put to rest all of those yearnings, all of those aspirations,” he said.
Beyond fostering development at the grassroots, James wants state governors to genuinely commit themselves to the verdict by allowing LGAs to be run by elected officials and providing the needed support that would make them functional for the benefit of the people.
“We wouldn’t also want the reform to stop here. Another one that we have been clamoring for is to have a democratically elected local government at the grassroots level. So we hope this ruling will also inspire state governors to continue to support state institutions to enhance the quality of our local governments.
“We hope truly that we will see the reflection of this three-tier in every aspect of governance. I know that it’s also discord whether or not INEC should take over the local government election. Our opinion remains that we should stay with the state, but then the state government also should show commitment to enhancing the quality of those elections and providing the kind of support that institutions would need to thrive at this level.”
Offering a contrary perspective, Omoyele Sowore, the presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC) in the 2023 general election believes the Supreme Court judgement will be ineffective if state governors continue to use their electoral machinery to conduct local government elections.
He said, "As long as Nigerian state governors control the state electoral machinery, ruthlessly rig local government elections, and install their minions in the LGAs, the Supreme Court ruling would remain ineffective."
This is one of the major issues Nigerians envisage but, on the bright side, many believe the financial freedom will encourage more scrutiny at grassroots levels because the people's focus is now expected to be on LGA bosses.