Stakeholders have described Thursday’s judgment of the Supreme Court on the autonomy of the 774 LGAs as a huge victory for democracy.
A cross-section of these elated critical stakeholders in the country’s LG system spoke in separate interviews with the Correspondents of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in the three states.
NAN recalls that the Apex Court had in a landmark judgment on Thursday, ordered the Federal Government to immediately start the direct payment of local government funds to their exclusive accounts.
In its lead judgement read by Justice Emmanuel Agim, the court chided the decades-long refusal of the state governments to allow the financial autonomy for the 774 LGAs, hence ”suffocating them’.
Agim averred that the 774 local government councils in the country should manage their funds themselves.
Similarly, he held that only democratically-elected local government administrations were entitled to these funds and not mere appendages of the states in the name of ‘caretaker committees’h
The Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) in Jema’a Local Government Area of Kaduna State, Mr Abbas Abbas, described the ruling as a victory for democracy.
He said, “This is a victory not only for NULGE and Nigerians, but a victory for democracy.
“You cannot have three tiers of government with one being subordinate to the other.”
Abbas opined that granting financial autonomy to the local governments would bring about more infrastructural development at the grass roots.
He added that the ruling has created additional checks and balances as the LG Chairmen would now be further emboldened to stand up to non- performing Governors.
A former NULGE President in Sokoto State, Alhaji Shehu Dange told NAN in Kaduna, “First we thank Almighty Allah for the Victory.
“I also appreciate the supreme court for doing what’s best for the country.
” I also congratulate Nigerians in the 774 L/G in Nigeria.I equally appreciate our leaders at the national level for standing firm throughout this struggle.
“May Almighty Allah bring lasting peace to our dear country.”
The President, Kaduna State chapter of the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employee (NULGE), Mr Rayyanu Turunku, said the supreme court’s decision was a welcome development.
Turunku said the decision of the supreme court was a good decision for all Nigerians not only for the union.
He said local government was the tier of government that was closer to the people particularly those in the rural areas.
Turunku said,”Every Nigerian has his origin from the local government from the top to the bottom.”
He said that some of the challenges the country was facing were due to the lack of autonomy of the local governments.
Turunku said,”With this development, a lot of these challenges will be reduced.”
In his view, Dr Abubakar Danja, Department of Public Administration, Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Zaria, advocated an improved accountability mechanism to checkmate corruption, leakages and wastages at the local government level.
The don made the suggestion in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Zaria.
Danja suggested the establishment of a joint taskforce by the State and Federal Government towards ensuring that money sent to the LG coffers was judiciously utilised.
He added that the monthly allocations to the LGs should be adequately publicised to enable the citizens to ask relevant questions about it.
He said the joint task force, when established, should also adopt the ‘name-and-shame’ approach any LG Chairman found wanting.
The don, who was delighted over the verdict, expressed hope that the judgment may translate into a rapid development at the local government level.
He added that such development would bring access to adequate social amenities and public infrastructure from the local governments.
The don also hoped that the local governments would be able to manage the resources judiciously, devoid of wastages and corruption.
Danja added that the judgment was a welcome development on democracy and the federal system of governance in Nigeria.
He added that the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria has earmarked separate independent powers and areas of jurisdiction to Federal, state and local governments.
He added with dismay that the state Governors have hijacked the LGs allocations and they manage the money on behalf of the local government, thereby ‘endangering their performance.
“These led to agitations by so many organisations and stakeholders for the full LG autonomy in terms of finances, elections and other things.
“We are therefore happy with the Supreme Court judgment,’’ Danja said.
Corroborating, Malam Ibrahim Chawai, former Secretary, NULGE Sabon Gari LG said to an average Nigerian, the judgment means that more money would come to the grassroots level.
This, he said, would drastically reduce unemployment, poverty and insecurity.
“If the LG has money they can embark on projects which will be carried out by local contractors; these local contractors engage local skilled and unskilled laborers for the job,’’ Chawai said.
The Chairman, Nigerian Labor Congress (NLC) Kano State chapter, Kabiru Inuwa, also hailed the landmark Supreme Court judgment granting financial autonomy to the 774 Local Governments in Nigeria.
Inuwa who said this while reacting to the judgment on Thursday in Kano, explained that the judgement would enhance development in the country.
The chairman also said that the judgment was a significant milestone in the quest for true democracy in the country.
According to him, the decision will bring development to the grassroots and bring the government closer to the people.
The labour leader added that the next step was to empower the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to oversee the organisation of local government elections.
He said that the step would strengthen the integrity of the process by enhancing the transparency of leadership selection mechanisms at the grassroots level.
Inuwa called on all the stakeholders, including the federal and state governments, to embrace this decision and work collaboratively towards its implementation.
The chairman commended President Bola Tinubu, National Assembly the judiciary for the feat.
Various stakeholders in Katsina State also welcomed the judgment, describing it as a good omen for the LGs and the citizens in general.
