Politics

Supreme Court’s LG Autonomy Ruling Relieves Governors’ Burden – Governors Forum

Published by Tope Fakinlede on July 13th, 2024.

Supreme Court’s LG Autonomy Ruling Relieves Governors’ Burden – Governors Forum

Governors from Nigeria’s 36 states, under the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF), are set to hold a crucial meeting next week to discuss the Supreme Court’s recent ruling that grants autonomy to local government councils.

Following a meeting with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the NGF Chairman and Governor of Kwara State, AbdulRazaq AbdulRahman, addressed State House Correspondents. He explained that governors, who have been using state resources to support local governments, are relieved by the ruling.

AbdulRahman affirmed that the state leaders are satisfied with the Supreme Court’s decision. “We welcome the Supreme Court ruling, and our Attorneys General have applied for the enrollment order, which we will study carefully. Overall, governors are pleased with the devolution of power concerning local government autonomy. This ruling eases the burden on governors. The public often doesn’t realize how much states spend to support local governments, and that’s a key issue.”

The Kwara governor noted that the NGF is awaiting the official court order and will convene next Wednesday to thoroughly review the judgment and determine the next steps. “We haven’t yet seen the enrollment of the court order, so we don’t know all the details,” he said.

Specifically addressing Kwara State, AbdulRahman stated

As for Kwara State in particular, AbdulRahman said the judgment would not negatively affect it as the state has not been tampering with council funds.

“It’s not going to affect the state we’ve never tampered with local government funds. So it’s going to continue. What the local governments have to do is to manage themselves, especially with the oncoming minimum wage, to manage their affairs and make sure salaries are paid, traditional rulers get their 5% and those are the main issues,” he said.

The NGF boss, who was flanked by his Imo State counterpart, Hope Uzodimma, and Bauchi, Bala Mohammed, said they were at the Presidential Villa to see the president on various issues, adding: “We’ve seen the President on various issues from minimum wage, which he met with labor yesterday, the Supreme Court ruling and other national issues that concern states as well. It’s omnibus.”