The Attorney General and Justice Minister, Lateef Fagbemi, had approached the Supreme Court in May this year, seeking to compel the governors of the 36 federating states to grant full autonomy to local governments in their domains. In the suit, state governors were accused of gross misconduct and abuse of power. He urged the Supreme Court to order that funds standing to the credit of local governments from the Federation Account should be paid directly to the local governments rather than through the state governments; and that governors, their agents and privies be restrained from receiving, spending, or tampering with funds released from the Federation Account for the benefit of local governments when no democratically elected local government system is in place in the states. By its ruling, the Supreme Court granted all the prayers.

Nigerians in general, and politicians in particular, must see this judgement as a prelude not just to the practice of federalism, but also to bringing development to the doorstep of Nigerians. Several points should be considered, the foremost of which is that successive military governments before 1999 distorted the country’s federalism through many years of summary administration and despotic decrees that washed away the country’s liberal federalism. The 1999 constitution, under which the country is governed today, is a product of that anomaly, and the overall result is that the country is performing below par; even regressing rapidly. The system must change to reverse this ugly trend, or the country is doomed. All organs or layers of government have roles to play in this regard. What the Supreme Court has done can be considered to be one of such roles. It can never be perfect until it is positively complemented by all other organs or layers.

It is instructive that no local government will henceforth be entitled to any allocation unless it is democratically elected. In that wise, the court ruling may help solve the problem of arbitrary dissolution of elected councils and appointment of caretaker committees. The next step will be how to ensure free and fair local government elections. This is a challenge to state governors who are currently empowered to appoint state electoral commissions, to ensure non-interference with the elections. It is also a challenge to members of the umpire to display exceptional integrity that many Nigerians, dead or alive, are noted for. It is arguable whether the solution to free and fair elections is to charge the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct the election, given that the commission is struggling to perfect state and federal elections, and it has even declared its inability to prosecute electoral offenders. It may be worthwhile to decentralise the appointment and funding of state electoral ommissions, to assure its independence.

After the hurdles of election into local government offices, come the hurdles of administering good governance by the councils. Sadly in the past, the local governments had not been spared in the practice of corruption and greed that seem to be a permanent feature of the politics. Having grumbled about financial starvation, now is the time for the chairmen and councillors to prove their mettle. With financial autonomy, they are in control of their fate and they can do a lot more than they do presently. History beckons on them to prove their critics wrong and to carve an enviable niche for themselves. With time and good performance, local governments stand a good chance of winning back more of their lost glory and functions, including providing local security for the people in their vicinity. As President Tinubu remarked after the landmark ruling, “The onus is now on local council leaders to ensure that the broad spectrum of Nigerians living at that level are satisfied that they are benefiting from people-oriented service delivery.”

Ultimately, all tiers of government must recognise that government is about the people. The constitution is clear that the welfare and security of Nigerians shall be the primary purpose of government, and this applies even more to local governments because security is local, and is germane to any development. The majority of Nigerians are languishing in the throes of poverty, poor housing, non-existent healthcare, weak education, unemployment, lack of basic infrastructure, insecurity and other forms of societal injustice. With their financial autonomy, it is the turn of local governments to impact the people over and above whatever states and federal governments have achieved.

To ensure transparency and accountability is the collective responsibility of all Nigerians as well as government and non-government agencies. Nigerians must demand accountability as their right. The civil society groups should reinvent themselves in the light of the new development; and anti-corruption agencies like the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC), the Police and their Special Fraud Units, among others, should be up and about. And governors, some of whom are presently in dissonance with the court ruling, must cooperate to ensure that the dividends of democracy get to all Nigerians.

Concluded.

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