Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has praised the Supreme Court decision that provided financial autonomy to local government councils.
In its lead opinion, given by Justice Emmanuel Agim, the Supreme Court ordered the Federal Government to make prompt and direct transfer of local government money to the latter’s exclusive accounts.
The Supreme Court criticised the state government’s decades-long resistance to grant financial autonomy to local governments.
In response to the decision, Atiku termed it as a “major corrective action in greasing the wheels of national development across the country”.
“The judgment of the Supreme Court earlier today affirming fiscal autonomy to local government councils in the country is a win for the people of Nigeria,” Atiku said in a statement on his X account on Thursday.
“The court’s ruling is a step in the right direction and a major corrective action in greasing the wheels of national development across the country. The decision by the Federal Government to consolidate disbursements of local councils’ revenues into the state government accounts was a decision that was borne out of politics of hasty compromise. I align with the decision of the Supreme Court that the structure of the Nigerian government is portioned in three layers, and of these, the local governments should be centres of development.”
A Notoriety
But Atiku, a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain, said the push for local government autonomy should not be limited to revenues.
“I also share the belief that fiscal autonomy to the local governments should not be limited to revenues from the Federation Accounts, but indeed, should apply to Internally Generated Revenue from the respective local government authorities,” the former vice president said.
“Many of our states, especially those in the ultra-urban areas with high-density economic activities, have become notorious for muscling local councils from generating revenue on items that border on motor parks, outdoor advertising, rents, and many more. The verdict of the court is in tandem with the core functions of the Supreme Court as an arbitration court between and among governments.”