With new local government autonomy laws, 13 states are rushing to conduct council polls. Find out more about the changes and their impact.
Following the Supreme Court’s ruling last Thursday that caretaker committees can no longer administer federal allocation to councils, at least 13 states have now established set dates for their Local Government elections.
Council poll preparations have commenced in Kaduna, Kogi, Bauchi, Katsina, Osun, Enugu, Benue, Rivers, Jigawa, Imo, Kebbi, Abia and Anambra states.
The council poll has been slated by the Kaduna State Independent Electoral Commission for October 19, 2024.
Allocated funds for local government councils cannot be held by state governors as it has been deemed unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.
Justice Emmanuel Agim delivered a judgment in which the seven-man panel stated that it is recommended for the 774 local government councils within Nigeria to handle their own funds.
The 36 state governors were the defendants in suit: SC/CV/343/2024, filed by Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice. The court’s ruling was a groundbreaking decision.
The state attorneys-general were sued by the AGF on behalf of their respective governors.
According to the highest court, the governmental system is comprised of three levels: federal, state, and local administrations.
Court’s verdict
The court stated that a caretaker committee cannot be appointed by the state government and only a democratically elected government can constitute a local government council.
The highest court put an end to the tradition of state governors appointing caretaker committees by declaring that a democratically elected local government is sacred and cannot be negotiated.
According to the court, any utilization of a caretaker committee by state governments for overseeing local government is in breach of the 1999 Constitution.
According to the Supreme Court, democratically elected government should be in charge of governing local government areas; however, they also acknowledged that some states have violated this law by abusing their power.
It was declared by the court that replacing democratically elected local government councils with caretaker committees is beyond the power of 36 state governors.
Agim declared that carrying out such an act is illegal, unconstitutional and has no effect.
The highest court prohibited state governors from accepting, holding onto or utilizing funds allocated to the local government.
According to the statement, states continuing the long-standing tradition of accepting and holding onto local government funds was deemed a blatant contravention of section 162 in the amended 1999 Constitution.
According to the 1999 Constitution, money exiting the federation account must be allocated among all three tiers of government as ruled by the court.
The statement conveyed that the funds intended for local councils should be received and handled by the respective local government administrations.
