Now that the Supreme Court of Nigeria has ruled on the highly sensitive local government autonomy issue, what is next is that folks who would ordinarily not vie to become local government chairman (simply because the role was essentially a special assistant, S.A, to the governor position equivalent, which is beneath them), would now be keen to do so as the role has become independent of the state governors claws.
Further to that, the judgment might even inspire those who had aspired to be governors who may not be able to get it because of the stiff competition for the plum job to jostle for the less competitive LG chairmanship position. That is because given that it is only one man that can become governor in a contest and at a period in time, the plethora of contestants who fail to clinch the coveted political trophy (and desperately slug it out in court) may consider settling for the role of LG chairmanship positions because of the autonomy that the Supreme Court judgment has conferred on that tier of government.
Delta State, which is my home state, for instance has 25 LGAs and Kano has 44 and Bayelsa has eight which is the least.
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What that implies is that the deluge of politicians who struggle to pass through the very narrow door into governorship positions in their states may be before or instead of bidding for the governorship seat which can only be occupied by just one person at a time as opposed to LGAs that have opening for multiple chairmanship positions, may be motivated to contest for LG chairmanship courtesy of the new Supreme Court ruling. What that implies is that more high-quality individuals may be vying for chairmanship and councillorship of LGAs.
To put things in context, while there are just 36 states in our country, there are 774 LGAs nationwide.
So, instead of the limited opportunities to become chief executive of government at the subnational level which is a mere 36 slots, imagine the opportunity that has just been opened for a huge number of 774 well-skilled people, instead of a handful of stooges of governors without the right competencies to get into the political fray at the grassroots level?
In light of the above possibilities, suffice it to state that the LG autonomy ruling by the Supreme Court has the potential to ramp up development in the rural areas, which have been in very short supply owing to a dearth of leaders with the ability and capacity to lead at the grassroots level of government.
Since the time the Federal Government of Nigeria, FGN, sued the state governors in court in a 27-count ground on May 25 to determine if the local government areas, LGAs, are autonomous, adjuncts or subsidiaries of state governments, politicians, especially some state governors have been squeamish and holding their breath as the matter climbed from the lower court to the appeal and finally to the Supreme Court which is the final arbiter. That is because LG funds have been a sort of gravy pot for them as they often dissolve duly elected LGA councils and replace them with their hand-picked men/ women who are mere conies and their appointees rather than elected representatives of the people as provided in the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
The judgment, which had been reserved since Thursday, June 12, was finally presented on Thursday, July 11, 2024 (in roughly one month) to the relief of the politicians, particularly governors who have been in anxiety.
The ruling without ambiguity made it clear that LGs are autonomous and must be treated as such, going forward.
As the Supreme Court has ruled that LGs are independent of state governments in the manner that the sub-nationals (states) are insulated from undue interference from the FGN, reaffirming a three-layer government structural framework, is the coast now clear for a paradigm shift in rural-urban migration?
Put succinctly, would those in the rural areas, going forward have the incentives to remain there than keep moving in droves to the cities (as has been the case) where prospects for work and business are currently higher and abound?
Clearly, with 20.60% of the Federation Account (FAAC Account) going directly to the coffers of LGs (as opposed to being passed through state governments), there would be more opportunities to entice more Nigerians to live and thrive in the hinterland.
In other words, as more money flows into the local governments’ treasuries directly, the chances of folks remaining there would be higher as the prospects become more alluring since the development of social infrastructure and amenities in the rural areas, which are currently in a decrepit condition where they exist at all and lacking in some LGAs would be accelerated.
The answer to the earlier question posed on whether rural-urban migration would be stemmed by the Supreme Court ruling appears cynical, but it is germane to achieving the quest for balanced growth of both the rural and urban centers for our country to evolve into a true democracy is a critical question to ask as we all struggle to secure the future of our country.
In my column of July 2, 2024, which is about two weeks ago, the focus of my article titled ‘How President Tinubu Is Restructuring Nigeria Silently’ is on the fact that suing governors to court to secure autonomy for LGs is part of President Bola Tinubu’s way of restructuring Nigeria without all the hullabaloo associated with previous attempts to restructure Nigeria which is quite innovative and commendable.
The unique thing about this restructuring is that it is being done by peeling off the bottlenecks in the current structure layer by layer like peeling off layers of a ball of onion, which comprises multiple layers wrapped upon one another.
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That is as opposed to trying to restructure the country in one fell swoop which is an approach or methodology that failed in the past, 1994/5 when then military head of state, Gen. Sanni Abacha, organized a national conference on the reformation of our country which was inconclusive and unimplemented following his sudden death, and especially in 2014 when then President Goodluck Jonathan after succeeding in organizing a National Conference, was hamstrung to roll out the policy changes agreed upon by the delegates.
Ostensibly because then President Jonathan had self-inflicted the unforced error of delaying implementation of the Confab report either because he was relying on the false hope that he had performed well enough to be voted back into office as president or his party and he had planned to rig the 2015 election, but got disappointed or betrayed by those who had imbued then President Jonathan with the Dutch courage about his re-election in 2015 as a done deal.
If readers do not mind, I would like you to indulge me by allowing a deviation from the main discourse which is about the Supreme Court ruling on LGs autonomy as I digress a bit by stating that it was mind-boggling that then President Jonathan could have been sold such a dummy at a time that his party, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, was ‘bleeding’ members.
That was because the leadership featuring the likes of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, then Senate President Bukola Saraki alongside a handful of governors numbering up to five had decamped to All Progressives Congress, APC, a new coalition of opposition parties with the sole purpose of upending Jonathan’s presidency and ending PDP’s unbroken sixteen years reign as the ruling party.
Now, as lofty and popular as the ruling by the Supreme Court affirming the autonomy of LGs appears to be, some oppose it vehemently.
First to do so is former governor of Delta State, Chief James Onanefe lbori, in a statement released immediately after the judgment, premised his concern on the following legal grounds:
“I’m opposed to fiddling with the allocations to the Joint LG Accounts at the state level but that in itself does not call for this death knell to the clear provisions of Section 162 of the constitution. The implications of the ruling are far-reaching and the issues that readily come to mind are:
1. Constitutional Interpretation: The Supreme Court’s ruling appears to contradict the explicit provisions of Section 162 of the 1999 constitution. This raises questions about judicial interpretation and whether the court has overstepped its bounds in reinterpreting clear constitutional language.
2. Balance of Power: The ruling potentially shifts the balance of power between the Federal Government and states. By allowing federal intervention in local government finances, it arguably centralizes more power at the federal level, contrary to the principles of federalism.
3. State Autonomy: This decision could be seen as an erosion of state autonomy. States are meant to have significant control over their internal affairs, including the administration of local governments, in a federal system.
4. Financial Independence: The ruling may impact the financial independence of states and local governments. If the Federal Government can directly intervene in local government finances, it could potentially use this as a tool for political leverage.
5. Precedent Setting: This decision could set a precedent for further federal interventions in areas traditionally reserved for state governance, potentially leading to a more centralized system of government over time.”
Obviously, miffed and disappointed, Chief lbori concluded his objection by stating that he denounces the fiddling with LG funds by some wily governors, paying LGs directly is not the ideal solution. He then quoted the late Hon. Justice Chukwudifu Oputa JSC, who once offered the following description of the Supreme Court, “We are not final because we are infallible, but we are infallible only because we are final”.
Afenifere, the Yoruba socio-cultural group, is on the same boat as Chief lbori as far as the Supreme Court judgment on LGs autonomy is concerned. So, it has also expressed outrage:
“Rather than interpret the constitution to uphold its elementary but overriding federal principle, which recognizes only a two-tier federal structure of the central government and federating states, the Supreme Court played to the gallery and wittingly allowed itself a most regressive declaration that the power of the government is portioned into three arms of government: the federal, the state, and the local government.
It made its conclusion thus: “For the avoidance of any doubt, Afenifere makes bold to say that in line with its negotiated basis of existence, Nigeria is a “federation consisting of states and a Federal Capital Territory,” as affirmed by Section 2(2) of 1999 constitution.”
One is curious to learn whether other ethnic nationality groups support or denounce the Supreme Court judgment. These include the northern equivalent of Afenifere, the Arewa Consultative group, comprising of Hausa/Fulani tribes; Ohanaeze Ndigbo, which is their counterpart in the East, covering the Igbo nation, and PANDEV, a parallel in the Niger Delta representing the multiplicity of ethnic groups in the enclave or the Coalition of Middle Belt Groups (CMBG) which plays a similar role in that region of our country.
Would they endorse or oppose the ruling as Chief Ibori, Afenifere, and a few other stakeholders have done?
