Supreme Court Reserves Judgment In FG’s Suit For Local Govt Autonomy

The Supreme Court on Thursday, June 13, 2024 reserved judgment in the suit filed by the Federal Government against the 36 State Governors in Nigeria over autonomy for the 774 Local Government Councils in the country.

Justice Garba Lawal, who is leading a seven-man panel of the Supreme Court announced that parties in the matter would be communicated when the judgment is ready following the adoption of processes by parties in the suit.

In the suit, marked SC/CV/343/2024, filed by the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, the Federal Government is praying the Supreme Court to enforce the autonomy of the Local Government by among other things, stopping the State Governors from appointing Caretaker Committees to administer Local Government Councils in their states.

The FG wants the Supreme Court to rule that any Local Government manned by a Caretaker Committee, instead of an elected Local Government chairman and Councillors, should have their funds from the Federation Account withheld.

It also wants the Supreme Court to rule that funds due to Local Governments from the Federation Account should be paid directly to them instead of through the state government to guarantee their autonomy.

In their response, the 36 State Governments opposed the Federal Government’s suit and urged the Supreme Court to throw out the suit.

But the AGF Fagbemi prayed the Supreme Court to grant all the reliefs sought by the Federal Government in the suit.

Fagbemi said; “I adopt and rely on these processes. I urge my lords to overrule the various objections and grant the originating summons”.

While some of the States said they were denied a fair hearing as they were not served, the AGF said he sent copies of the affidavits to the defendants via WhatsApp and emails, adding that the court bailiff also served the defendants in their various State liaison offices in Abuja.

In the suit, Federal Government is praying the Supreme Court to issue ‘an order prohibiting State Governors from unilateral, arbitrary and unlawful dissolution of democratically elected Local Government officers’.

The Federal Government predicted its position on 27 grounds, and accused the State Governors in particular of gross misconduct and abuse of power.

Similarly, in the originating summons, the Federal Government prayed the Supreme Court to make an order expressly stating that funds standing to the credit of Local Governments from the Federation Account should be paid directly to the Local Governments as against through the state governments.

The Federal Government further sought “an order stopping Governors from constituting Caretaker Committees to run the affairs of Local Governments as against the constitutionally recognised and guaranteed democratic system”.

Fagbemi therefore, urged the Supreme Court to invoke sections 1, 4, 5, 7 and 14 of the Constitution to declare that the State Governors and State Houses of Assembly are under obligation to ensure a democratic system at the third tier of government in Nigeria.

The FG also wants the Supreme Court to invoke the same sections to hold that the Governors cannot lawfully dissolve democratically elected Local Government Councils and equally prayed the Court to invoke sections 1, 4, 5, 7 and 14 of the Constitution to declare that “the dissolution of democratically elected local government councils by the governors or anyone using the state powers derivable from laws enacted by the State Houses of Assembly or any Executive Order as unlawful, unconstitutional, null and void”.