Following the judgement of the Supreme Court on Thursday, which declared financial autonomy for the 774 Local Government Area (LGAs) Councils in the country, the survival of Local Council Development Authorities (LCDAs) in some states now depends on the benevolence of the LGAs from which they were carved out as well as the magnanimity of the state governments that have them, some Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs) have said.

This was as the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) and Governor of Kwara State, AbdulRazaq AbdulRahman, yesterday, declared that the State governors are comfortable with the Supreme Court judgment that granted financial autonomy to the LGAs.

Speaking in separate interviews with THISDAY, the senior lawyers stressed that LCDAs created by some state governments were illegal, unconstitutional and should be abolished by the State assemblies that created them without delay.

The Supreme Court of Nigeria had in a judgement ordered the stoppage of the payment of LGAs allocation through the States. The apex court in the judgement had held that Section 162 (4&5) which stipulated a joint account for States and LGs was being exploited by the various State governments hence, the need for an order directing the payments of funds due to the local governments from the federation account directly to the local governments.

In the suit filed in May by the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, the federal government had accused the state governments of running aground the third-tier of government.

Some of the senior lawyers that THISDAY spoke with included Chief Mike Ozekhome, Dr. Joseph Nwobike, Professor of Constitutional Law and Governance, Professor Edoba Omoregie, Mr. Olu Daramola, Mr. Abiodun Olatunji, Mr. John Baiyeshea, Mr Dayo Akinlaja, Mallam Ahmed Raji and a former National Chairman of the Abuja Branch of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Mr. Moses Ebute.

The senior lawyers based their assertion on the facts that the order of the apex court was only the 774 LGAs recognised by the constitution.

Since their creation first by former Governor of Lagos State who is now President Bola Tinubu, the status of the LCDAs have been enmeshed in confusion as neither the federal government nor the courts have accorded them the recognition as a third-tier arm of government.

Ironically, the same Tinubu who established the LCDAs in 2002 as part of efforts to take development to the grassroots is the same person who has taken a move that appears to have put the LCDAs in jeopardy or now threatening their existence, if the order of the Supreme Court on direct payment of funds to LGAs is to be taking seriously.

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, had denied Lagos of funds belonging to the LGAs in Lagos because of the creation of LCDAs by then Governor Tinubu.

Besides Lagos, most states in the south-west and other states in the federation have over the years created LCDAs to fast track development at the grassroots. While Lagos, apart from the 20 constitutionally recognised LGAs has 37 LCDAs, Oyo State on the other hand besides its 33 LGAs has 29 LCDAs.

Although, they had devised means of funding these development area councils, however, Section 162 of the 1999 Constitution as amended had supported them in managing the LGAs alongside the LCDAs.

The said section provided for the establishment of a State Local Government Joint Account wherein funds that are due to both a state and the local governments in that state were paid into. Based on this, the governors cultivated the habit of disbursing funds belonging to the state and LGAs as they deemed fit and what they feel is good for the LGAs notwithstanding what was allocated to them from the Federation Account.

The conduct of the states according to the federal government and which was corroborated by the apex court is threatening the very existence of the LGAs, hence the apex court decided to order for financial autonomy of the LGAs.

According to Ozekhome, going by the judgement of the apex court, all the LCDAs would no longer get money from the federation account, adding that only those LGs recognised by the constitution would benefit from federation account.

He said: ‘’As far as I am concerned, the judgement by the Supreme Court is very clear. As clear as a clean whistle. It simply says that the method of distribution of the allocation meant for the local government councils by state governors has been a thieving one.

“In Sections 162 subsections 4,5, and 6, it says that the money should go directly to the local government councils that are democratically elected in accordance with Section 7 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (As Amended). What the judgement means is that any other form of local government council whether you call them LCDAs is handpicked or appointed by a governor, as many are across the country now. They are unconstitutional, invalid and illegal.

“What does this mean? Only those Local Government councils recognised by the Constitution will benefit from the federation account.

In his contribution, Nwobike said ‘’The LCDAs that were created are not recognised local council areas. They were created, at best, for the administrative convenience for the running of the local governments in the states that created them. They are not entitled to allocations from the Federation Account created under the constitution.”

“Just recently, the Ondo State High Court declared the ones created in Ondo State as illegal and unconstitutional. In my view, the LCDAs are unconstitutional.”

For his part, Omoregie said ‘’The Supreme Court was asked to decide two broad questions: management of fiscal allocation from the Federation Account to the local government councils, and whether states can legitimately constitute caretaker committees or bodies to administer local government councils. The two sections of the constitution decided upon are sections 7 and 162 as they relate to or affect local government administration.

“The Supreme Court was not asked to determine whether the states can create LCDAs. LCDAs are not entitled to benefit directly from Federation Account allocation. They were therefore not in issue in the suit decided by the Supreme Court.”

In his view, Daramola said, “the judgment is a step in the right direction, but I don’t think it has finally resolved the issue of local government autonomy. In most of the states of the federation, the local government is treated as the exclusive estate of the state governor.

“True independence and autonomy of local government cannot be maintained if governors are allowed to install their puppets as chairmen and councilors of local governments. The states’ electoral bodies that conduct elections for the local government are instruments in the hands of the governors to foist their acolytes on the people. Therefore, most of the Councilors and chair persons running the local governments lack legitimacy.”

Also speaking Olatunji said ‘’The recent Supreme Court judgment that bars governors from retaining or utilising funds meant for Local Governments and declares the appointment of caretaker committees unconstitutional is a watershed moment in the development of our constitutional democracy. “This decision marks a significant shift in the relationship between state and local government administrations, aiming to ensure transparency, accountability, and enhanced development at the grassroots level.”

Reacting to the judgement, Baiyeshea said “The implication of the recent judgment of the Supreme Court, is simple, the LCDAs cannot legally receive any money from the Federal Government.

“This is because the federal government will deal directly only with the 774 Local Governments recognised by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as Amended).

“So, it is not a complicated issue at all. The LCDAs have never really been entitled to direct allocation from the Federation Account. They have been existing at the benevolence of other Local Governments in the State.”

On his part, Raji stated that since the LCDAs cannot receive direct funds from the federation account they can operate, “under the parent local government whether as department or division, that will be the internal affairs of the local government is concerned.

“To that extent, LCDAs cannot receive direct allocation from the federation account but the states may allocate money to them. It is an evolving scenario which calls for restraints in making wide comments.”

Akinlaja, submitted that, “the constitution provides for Local Governments only. As such, the allocations can only go to Local Governments. However, they may find a legislative way of sharing money with the LCDAs.”

On his part, Ebute who saluted the judgment of the Supreme Court for the financial autonomy for the LGAs and their tenure guarantee, stated that the matter was long overdue as LGAs in most states of the federation were not only being financially strangulated but also denied tenure guarantees or certainty.

“LGAs will be funded directly from the consolidated accounts of the Federation or the Federal Government.

“However, LCDAs are not recognsed by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and therefore cannot and will not benefit from the judgment. LCDAs will have to be funded by the various states that created them from states accounts, otherwise they just have to be dissolved,” he added. (THISDAY)

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