The Senate President, Godswill Akpabio has advised state governors to respect the Supreme Court’s judgement that granted autonomy to the 774 local government areas in Nigeria.
The Supreme Court had on Thursday declared that it is unconstitutional for state governors to hold funds allocated for local government administrations.
In the judgment delivered by Justice Emmanuel Agim, the seven-person panel declared that the 774 local government councils in the country should manage their funds themselves.
The apex court also held that the power of the government is portioned into three arms of government, the federal, the state and the local government.
Reacting to the court’s verdict after meeting with President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Villa, Akpabio told State House correspondents that the “request was placed before the courts by the AGF because the Federal Government through President Bola Tinubu feels strongly about separation of powers and the need for autonomy of all arms of governments.
“And so for us in the legislature, the Supreme Court has spoken and we have no option than to abide by the Supreme Court ruling.
“So, I will just call on all states of the federation to respect what the Supreme Court has done and then we will go back to the legislature and see where we can dot the i’s and cross the t’s to ensure the full implementation.”
He expressed hope that the local governments can now undertake projects on their own.
Akpabio appealed to governors who have not conducted elections at the local government level to do so.
“I advise that there should be an impartial election at the local government level so that all the political parties can participate.
“At the moment there’s a lot of lethargy and nonchalant attitude by many political parties whose parties are not in power at the state level, they hardly partake in local government elections because of the perceived bandwagon effect and all that,” he added.
