Abuja: The Supreme Court of Nigeria has declared and barred the state governors from holding onto funds meant for Local Government (LG) administrations.
The judgement was delivered on Thursday, July 11 following the suit filed by the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) on behalf of the Federal Government of Nigeria.
Justice Emmanuel Agim in his judgement said it is unconstitutional for Governors to hold unto or temper withe the federal government allocations of the local area councils. He said doing so amount to breeching the 1979 constitution of the federal republic of Nigeria
The judgement also barred governors from dissolving democratically elected Local Government officials in the state. .
The judgement read by Justice Emmanuel Agim said the Apex court observed that the state governments’ refusal of financial autonomy for local governments has gone on for more than 20 years now.
In his judgement,Justice Agim, said local governments have since stopped receiving the money meant for them by the state governors who act in their stead. He explained that the local government councils in Nigeria should manage their funds themselves. He barred the Governors from using caretakers committees in local government administrations in Nigeria,
The verdict gave power to only the elected local government officials to manage the funds not caretakers.
