In a significant ruling on Thursday, the highest court mandated the Federal Government to promptly initiate direct payments of local government funds into their exclusive accounts.
Justice Emmanuel Agim, delivering the lead judgment, criticized the longstanding denial by state governments of financial autonomy to local councils. He emphasized that the 774 local government councils should independently manage their finances, stressing that only democratically elected administrations are entitled to these funds, not caretaker committees.
The court dismissed the defendants’ preliminary objections, directing that allocations from the Federation Account should henceforth go directly to the local governments rather than state coffers. Justice Agim underscored that withholding funds by state governors hampers local government activities and ordered immediate compliance, prohibiting the payment of these funds to state governments.
Reacting to this, Bashir Ahmad, an ex-aide of Buhari, praised President Tinubu as he said history will kindly remember him for this while also thanking him for taking the matter to the court….Seë_Morë