- This comes following the recent Supreme Court verdict endorsing full local government autonomy and ordering that funds from the Federation Account should be paid directly to LG accounts.
- The country’s highest court, with Thursday’s verdict, stopped governors from receiving and tampering with local government allocations.
Mike Ozekhome, a senior advocate of Nigeria (SAN), says the ruling of the supreme court affirming the fiscal autonomy of LGAs in the country means that the federation account allocation committee (FAAC) will not send funds to LGAs led by Caretaker Committee Chairmen (CTC).
Ozekhome said this on ‘Morning Brief’, a Channels Television programme, on Friday.
On July 11, the supreme court ruled that the federal government should henceforth pay allocations directly to local government councils from the federation account.
Delivering judgment in the suit, a seven-member panel of justices held that state governments have continued to abuse their powers by retaining and using the funds meant for LGAs.
The apex court also ordered the federal government to withhold allocations of LGs governed by unelected officials appointed by the governor.
Ozekhome said “The judgement of the government is clear. If you want to receive funds from the federation account, then conduct an election.
“If what you have in place is a caretaker committee as local government chairman, be sure that it will not have money from the federation account.
“If you want money from the federation account, such councils must be democratically elected.”
Some states in Nigeria currently have CTCs including Rivers, Benue, Anambra, Imo, Kwara, Abia, Enugu, Plateau, Zamfara, Katsina, Kano, Sokoto, Yobe, Ondo, Osun, Akwa-Ibom Cross River, Bauchi and Delta.
On July 11, the Adamawa State Government has instituted a suit against the federal government before the supreme court over revenue distribution from the federation account.
Humwashi Wonosikou, chief press secretary to Ahmadu Fintiri, Adamawa governor, had said the state is seeking interpretation of Section 162 (1), (2) and (3) of the constitution regarding the distribution of revenue from the federation account.
The state argued that “the entire sum in the federation account must be distributed among all levels of government without deductions, except as permitted by law”.
The state government said it is also seeking a strict interpretation of the constitution to ensure that revenue distribution is “done in a transparent and constitutional manner, without arbitrary deductions or withholdings by the federal government”.
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