Former Delta State Governor, James Ibori, has criticized the recent Supreme Court judgment granting full autonomy to local governments, calling it “a severe setback to the principles of federalism.”
In a post on X shortly after the judgment, Ibori expressed his disagreement, citing constitutional provisions to support his claim that the decision undermines federalism’s foundations. The Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that it is unconstitutional for governors to withhold funds allocated to local government councils, paving the way for their autonomy and direct funding.
Referencing Section 162 (3) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), Ibori stated, “The section expressly provides: ‘Any amount standing to the credit of the Federation Account shall be distributed among the Federal and State Governments and the Local Government Councils in each State on such terms and in such manner as may be prescribed by the National Assembly.’ Section 6 provides further clarity on the subject matter: ‘Each State shall maintain a special account to be called the “State Joint Local Government Account” into which shall be paid all allocations to the Local Government Councils of the State from the Federation Account and from the Government of the State.’”
Ibori argued that the Federal Government has no right to interfere with local government administration “under any guise whatsoever.” He emphasized, “There are only two tiers of government in a federal system. Fiddling with allocations to the Joint LG Accounts at the state level does not justify this death knell to the clear provisions of Section 162 of the constitution.”
The former governor noted that the ruling has far-reaching consequences for the federal-state power dynamic, enabling federal interference in local government finances and centralizing power, “contrary to the principles of federalism.”
Ibori further argued that if the Federal Government directly controls local government funds, it could exploit this power to exert political pressure and manipulate local governments. “This decision could set a precedent for further federal interventions in areas traditionally reserved for state governance, potentially leading to a more centralized system over time.”
He acknowledged that local governments must be “democratically elected” as the constitution states, but argued that withholding their allocation is not the solution. “In the coming days, we will begin to fully understand the implications of the Supreme Court decision. An assault on the constitution is not the answer to fiddling with the Joint LG Account,” he added.
In a landmark judgment delivered by Justice Emmanuel Agim, a seven-member panel of the Supreme Court ruled that the 774 local government councils in Nigeria have the constitutional right to manage their finances autonomously, without interference from state governments.
