Supreme Court ruling on LG autonomy remains Tinubu's greatest achievement - Ndume

Ndume, who is also the Chief Whip of the Senate, made this known while reacting to the apex court's verdict in a statement made available to journalists on Friday, July 12, 2024.

The lawmaker commended the Tinubu administration for initiating a court action at the Supreme Court, which resulted in financial emancipation for local government councils across the country.

He also urged the President to, in earnest, commence the implementation of the court ruling, stressing that the grassroots dwellers must begin to feel the impacts of good governance without delay.

The Senator argued that since state governors have capitalised on a controversial section of the 1999 Constitution as amended to hijack local government administration in Nigeria, no meaningful development has happened at the grassroots.

“This court action instituted at the behest of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is the biggest of his achievements. I’m very happy about the development, and I’m hoping that this will be the beginning of the liberation of local governments in Nigeria.

“I urge the President to immediately commence the implementation of the Court judgment. Local Government Councils need to start getting their monthly allocations immediately without any further delays. The people at the grassroots levels will begin to feel the impacts of good governance now.

“The National Assembly made several attempts to amend the 1999 Constitution and address this grey area. But governors didn’t allow the State Assemblies to give the constitutional concurrence. That was how the attempts failed.

“President Muhammadu Buhari also tried to intervene. Governors didn’t allow him. With this Supreme Court judgment, the issue has finally been resolved. No more unnecessary deductions from funds earmarked for local governments.

“The people can now hold the Council chairmen accountable for how they spend their monthly allocations. They’ll begin to demand true accountability and judicious use of the funds they’ll be getting. I salute the courage of President Tinubu,” the statement read.

In a ruling delivered on Thursday, July 11, 2024, a seven-member panel of justices ordered that local government allocations from the Federation Account should be credited directly to them henceforth.

The apex court also declared as unconstitutional, the practice of governors holding on to funds meant for local government administration.

The court said all the 774 Local Government Councils in the country should manage their funds themselves while dismissing the preliminary objections raised by the governors.