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Mike Ozekhome, a Senior Nigerian advocate, has commented on the Supreme Court's verdict granting autonomy to local government councils.
During his appearance on Channels Television's morning show, The Morning Brief, on Friday, July 12, Ozekhome stated that the verdict does not mandate that the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) will not distribute funds to local government areas led by Caretaker Committee Chairmen.
"The judgement of the government is clear. If you want to receive funds from the federation account, then conduct an election.
"If what you have in place is a caretaker committee as local government chairman, be sure that it will not have money from the federation account.
"If you want money from the federation account, such councils must be democratically elected," Ozekhome said.
Supreme Court verdict ineffective
Meanwhile, Professor of Practice in International Human Rights Law Chidi Odinkalu has stated that local government funds will still end up with state governors.
Odinkalu responded to the judgment by saying that although the ruling changes the method by which governors receive these funds, it doesn't prevent them from influencing local government elections to install their preferred chairmen.
"If they said that they will not give money to caretaker chairmen, the president (Bola Tinubu) went through the same thing with Obasanjo. Obasanjo held up their money when he (Tinubu) was the governor of Lagos State. If that is the consequence they want to live with, they want to afflict others with, we live by the swing of the pendulum. It may take one decade or 20 years, but it will turn around," he said.