FG fails to implement Supreme Court judgement on LG financial autonomy one year after

Almost a year after, the judgment of the Supreme Court granting financial autonomy to the 774 Local Government Areas in the country is yet to be implemented.

The Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi (SAN) had said that there would be serious consequences for any state government that acted contrary to the judgment.

Almost a year after, the judgment of the Supreme Court granting financial autonomy to the 774 Local Government Areas in the country is yet to be implemented.

The Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi (SAN) had said that there would be serious consequences for any state government that acted contrary to the judgment.

According to the AGF, the responsibility for implementing the judgment and ensuring direct allocation to local governments falls under the purview of the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation.

It is not clear, however, if the AGF has written to the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation directing the enforcement of the landmark judgment of the apex court.

The media aide to the AGF, Kamarudeen Ogundele, told the Nigerian Tribune that the matter of enforcement of the judgment has been over flogged.

What many saw as a move to delay the implementation of the judgment was the introduction of a new condition by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), requiring all the 774 local governments to provide at least two years of audited financial reports before they could receive their allocations directly.

The apex bank stated that the local governments must meet the requirement before opening accounts for direct remittance of their allocations.

The Association of Local Government of Nigeria (ALGON), through its secretary general, Muhammed Abubakar, also blamed the non-implementation of the judgment on the AGF’s directive for the CBN to open uniform accounts for all local governments.

The directive, ALGON said, undermines the spirit of the court’s decision.

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