By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The Supreme Court on Thursday held that the collection of local government funds from the federation account by state governors was unconstitutional.
Delivering the lead judgement today in Abuja, Justice Emmanuel Agim held that the 36 state governors do not have the authority to hold the funds on behalf of the 774 local councils in the country.
This judgement has put to rest the controversies on local government autonomy as the council will now receive their funds directly from the federation account, instead of the previous joint-state accounts.
The Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Mr Lateef Fagbemi, had on behalf of the federal government dragged the 36 state governors to the apex court to seek autonomy for the local government areas in a suit marked SC/CV/343/2024.
He asked the court to make an order that funds for LG being run by caretakers appointed by governors instead of elected chairmen and councillors should be withheld.
But the 36 states, represented by their attorneys general, opposed the suit on various grounds, including their contention that the Supreme Court lacked jurisdiction to entertain the suit.
A seven-man panel of Supreme Court Justices led by Justice Garba Lawal heard the suit on June 13 and reserved judgment for today.
In his judgement on Thursday, Justice Agim emphasised that the 774 local government councils in the country should manage their funds themselves, and dismissed the preliminary objections of the state governors.