LG Autonomy Must Become Nigeria’s 1964 Civil Rights Fight
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration will be remembered—for good or ill—for its bold systemic reforms: the removal of fuel subsidy and the floating of the Naira. But perhaps the most consequential, destiny-shaping, and legacy-defining reform is the pursuit of local government autonomy. Sadly, its importance is largely unappreciated. We live in survival mode. Nigerians worry about what to eat today, not about distant reforms whose benefits may not be seen tomorrow. Fuel subsidy removal and naira floating shook people at the existential level; hence they dominate the headlines. But local government autonomy—though quieter—has the potential to change Nigeria’s governance forever. The Bold Supreme Court Route Unlike subsidy removal, which Tinubu casually announced in his inaugural speech, he knew local government autonomy could not pass through the legislature. As a former governor, he understood the enormous grip governors hold over senators and representatives. Any such bill would have been dead on arrival. He therefore chose the unconventional but brilliant route—through the Supreme Court. That singular move reveals how monumental the reform is. Governors Will Not Give Up Without a Fight Across Nigeria today, governors are doing everything possible to frustrate implementation. They will not give up their honeypot fiefdoms without a titanic fight. Local government allocations are their oxygen, their war chest, their piggy bank.Osun State shows us how consequential this struggle is: the government and opposition are locked in a fight-to-the-finish over who controls local government funds. Neither side can afford to lose. Only the suffering masses lose.Governors in Nigeria are among the most powerful people on the continent. They are political Santa Clauses, distributing patronage to the loyal and punishment to dissenters. Even powerful cultural organizations such as Afenifere and Ohaneze tread carefully—they too want their share of the goodies. Nobody dares to fall into the bad books of a governor.This is why only a handful of so-called “crazies” and “knuckleheads” dare to take them on. But truth be told, the battle for local government autonomy is not a fringe struggle—it is our collective struggle. Nigeria’s Civil Rights Moment Just as Black Americans in 1964 rose to demand their civil rights against systemic denial, Nigerians must rise to demand true local government autonomy. This is our civil rights moment.Why? Because local government is the only tier of government closest to the people. It is where the school roofs collapse, where rural roads decay, where health centers go without medicine, and where farmers are either empowered or abandoned. Without local government autonomy, development remains centralized in the hands of governors who dictate winners and losers. Community Efforts Are Not Enough In Ijesaland, we have set up a Local Government Monitoring Committee. It is a commendable step, but let us be honest: such committees are like trying to stop a raging elephant with needles. They lack constitutional power to enforce accountability. Governors and their parties control who contests local elections, and unsurprisingly, they always win in landslides. Community monitoring is better than nothing, but it cannot uproot entrenched abuse. Freedom Is Never Given Freely Let us be clear: governors will never willingly surrender control of local government allocations. Asking them to do so is like asking a pig to abandon its muddy pond. It will not happen voluntarily.To wrestle power away requires nothing less than a civil rights–style movement. Freedom is never handed down. It must be fought for, demanded, and seized.If Nigerians are serious about grassroots development, accountability, and true democracy, then we must treat local government autonomy as our 1964. Afenifere, COYN, and other activist communities can help mobilize, but the power must come from ordinary Nigerians who refuse to be shut out of their own governance. Conclusion Tinubu may have taken the boldest step by going through the Supreme Court. But without citizen action, governors will suffocate the reform. This fight is not about Tinubu, APC, or PDP—it is about the people versus the political elite.Local government autonomy is not just another policy tweak—it is the foundation of genuine democracy and development in Nigeria.The governors will not give it up. The people must rise up and take it. This must become Nigeria’s 1964. Adewale Alonge, PhD, Founder & President, Africa Diaspora Partnership for Empowerment and Development. www.adped.org
Why LG autonomy can’t work — Fayose
By Doris Isreal Ijeoma Former Ekiti State Governor, Ayo Fayose, has expressed concern over Thursday’s Supreme Court judgment affirming local governments’ right to receive monthly allocations directly from the federation account. The chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party emphasised that despite the court judgment, state Houses of Assembly and the governors will always be a clog in the wheel of local government autonomy. Fayose said this when he featured as a guest on Sunday’s edition of Channels Television’s Politics Today. While stressing that nobody from the grassroots can emerge as a local government chairman without the support of a governor, the Ekiti politician said both the court and FG ‘cannot take the baby from the mother.’ He said, “I am not a lawyer. I am a politician and by God’s grace today, I am an elder statesman. While I love and do not believe that any government should take local government funds, may I say to you very clearly this evening that you cannot take the baby from the mother? There is nobody that can become council chairman without a governor. Anybody telling you otherwise is wasting his time. “Let me quickly remind you that the House of Assembly of every state controls the activities and checkmates the activities of the local government. While I was governor, I had the privilege of receiving money from Abuja. When you receive money from the account, some people manage the account. They are not politicians or the council chairman. “There is only one representative of the governor, which is the local government commissioner. All others are local government officials, workers, and pensioners of the council. And they appropriate the funds. But when you now come and say we are giving power to the local government, what power are you giving to them? No power.” Continuing, the PDP chieftain said aside from the state lawmakers frustrating the process, most council officials don’t take their work seriously. According to him, many workers don’t bother to come to work on certain days of the week. “Any council chairman who says ‘Money is coming to me, I will disrespect my governor’ the House of Assembly will tell you to go and disobey him inside your house. This is because you can never even be a council chairman without the governor standing up for you. The House of Assembly regulates your activities. “Go to the council meeting on Wednesday or Friday, you will not find 10 per cent of the staff of the local government in the office. They don’t come. My name is Ayo Fayose and I want them to dispute this. They don’t come to work. When you make moves to bring them to book, both NULGE and all leaders of the local government will go and beg the governor. “They will be telling you, we will not vote for you. This is the way we operate at the local government. The state is more effective in administrative performance than the local government. At the local government, everybody comes to collect money. Even people have left some states. They live somewhere else and money just hit their accounts,” he added.
Presidency Reacts To Supreme Court Ruling On Local Government Autonomy
The presidency has reacted to Thursday’s victory against 36 state governors at the Supreme Court on local government autonomy. The Supreme Court ruled that all federal allocations for local government councils should be paid directly into their accounts. In Nigeria, most states operate a joint account with local governments, Justice Emmanuel Agim, who led a seven-member panel of justices, said local government allocation should be paid directly to a separate account belonging to each local government. The federal government through the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN) approached the Supreme Court, in a suit, marked SC/CV/343/2024, and sought that 36 governors of the federation grant full autonomy to the 774 local governments. Giving details of federal government’s prayer in the suit, Special Adviser to President Tinubu on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, on his X handle on Thursday, wrote, “The details of the Supreme Court ruling giving 774 local councils financial autonomy “The Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that all federal funds for local government councils should be paid directly into their accounts. “Justice Emmanuel Agim, who led a seven-member panel of justices, delivered the judgment in a suit filed by the federal government against the 36 state governors. “According to the judgment, henceforth, no more payments of local government area allocations will be made to state government accounts. The court also prohibited the governors from receiving, tampering with, or withholding funds meant for local governments. “Furthermore, the court barred the governors from dissolving democratically elected officials for local governments and deemed such actions a breach of the 1999 Constitution. “The federal government had approached the Supreme Court with a suit seeking to compel the governors of the 36 federating states to grant full autonomy to local governments in their domains. The suit, marked SC/CV/343/2024, was filed by the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), on behalf of the Federal Government. “The Federal Government accused the state governors of gross misconduct and abuse of power in its suit, which was based on 27 grounds. In the originating summons, the FG prayed the Supreme Court to make an order stating 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. “The justice minister also requested an order restraining governors, their agents, and privies 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. “Finally, the Federal Government sought an order stopping governors from constituting caretaker committees to run the affairs of local governments, contrary to the constitutionally recognized and guaranteed democratic system.”
BREAKING: It’s Unconstitutional For Govs To Hold LG Funds, Supreme Court Declares
The Supreme Court, on Thursday, declared that it is unconstitutional for state governors to hold onto funds meant for Local Government (LG) administrations. He said local governments has since stopped receiving the money meant for them from the state governors who act in their stead. Justice Agim noted that the 774 local government councils in the country should manage their funds themselves. He dismissed the preliminary objections of the defendants (state governors). The suit filed by the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), Lateef Fagbemi, the Federal Government sought an order preventing the governors from arbitrarily dissolving democratically elected councils. Justice Agim said the AGF has the right to institute the suit and protect the constitution. The apex court consequently directed that Local Government allocation from the Federation Account should be paid directly to them henceforth. More to follow