News
FG Drags 36 Governors To Supreme Court Over LGAs Autonomy
The Federal Government has instituted a legal action against the governors of the 36 states of the federation at the Supreme Court over alleged misconduct in the administration of Local Government Areas.
The suit filed by the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, is seeking full autonomy for all local government areas in the country.
In suit, the Federal Government specifically prayed the court to issue an order, prohibiting state governors from embarking on unilateral, arbitrary and unlawful dissolution of democratically elected local government leaders.
The governors of the 36 states were sued through their respective Attorneys General.
The suit is also asking for an order permitting the funds standing in the credits of local governments to be directly channelled to them from the federation account in line with the provisions of the constitution as against the alleged unlawful joint accounts created by governors.
The Federal Government also prayed the Supreme Court for an order stopping governors from further constituting caretaker committees to run the affairs of local governments as against the constitutionally recognized and guaranteed democratic system.
It equally applied for an order of injunction restraining the governors, their agents and privies from receiving, spending or tampering with funds released from the federation account for the benefits of local governments when no democratically elected local government system is put in place in the states.
In the 27 grounds it listed in support of the suit, the Federal Government argued that Nigeria, as a federation, was a creation of the 1999 Constitution as amended, with the president as head of the federal executive arm, swearing on oath to uphold and give effects to provisions of the constitution.
The Federal Government told the apex court that the governors represent the component states of the federation with executive governors who have also sworn to uphold the constitution at all times.
It holds constitution of Nigeria recognizes federal, states and local governments as three tiers of government and that the three recognized tiers of government draw funds for their operation and functioning from the federation account created by the constitution.
“That by the provisions of the constitution, there must be a democratically elected local government system and that the constitution has not made provisions for any other systems of governance at the local government level other than democratically elected local government system.
“That in the face of the clear provisions of the constitution, the governors have failed and refused to put in place a democratically elected local government system even where no state of emergency has been declared to warrant the suspension of democratic institutions in the state.
“That the failure of the governors to put democratically elected local government system in place, is a deliberate subversion of the 1999 constitution which they and the president have sworn to uphold.
“That all efforts to make the governors comply with the dictates of the 1999 constitution in terms of putting in place, a democratically elected local government system, has not yielded any result and that to continue to disburse funds from the federation account to governors for non-existing democratically elected local government is to undermine the sanctity of the 1999 constitution.
That in the face of the violations of the 1999 constitution, the federal government is not obligated under section 162 of the constitution to pay any state, funds standing to the credit of local governments where no democratically elected local government is in place.”
The Supreme Court has fixed May 30 for hearing.
President Bola Tinubu is set to reshuffle his cabinet ahead of the Independence celebration on October 1. BusinessDay sources at the presidency revealed that Tinubu has concluded plans to reshuffle the cabinet in response to criticisms of his administration’s poor handling of the economy.
BusinessDay gathered from reliable sources at the presidency that the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Ministry of Power, Ministry of Transport, Ministry of Water Resources, Ministry of Environment and Ministry of Defense, among others, are likely to be affected.
BusinessDay gathered that there is already a disquiet in the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) over the performance of the current administration, fearing that the party may not retain power in 2027 unless there are visible changes in the management of the economy.
A chieftain of the party who spoke with BusinessDay on the condition of anonymity said the party is not comfortable with the way President Tinubu has managed the economy.
We do not understand why he is finding it difficult to replace Simon Lalong, former labour and employment minister long after he officially announced his resignation from the cabinet.
“Look at the Humanitarian Affairs Ministry, one of the most strategic ministries designed to give welfare to Nigerians, especially members of our party. It has been vacant without a minister. The president cannot tell us that we do not have a competent person within the party to take over that ministry since the suspension of the former minister.
“Even if they want to recall her, she can be reassigned to any other ministry, but there is no justification for leaving that ministry vacant.
”The APC chieftain revealed that all is not well with the party, noting that 2027 political consideration is being elevated above the current challenges facing the nation.
Ninety-four percent of Nigerian youths believe that the most populous black nation is headed in the wrong direction, the 2024 African Youth Survey says.
The report, recently published by Johannesburg-based Ichikowitz Family Foundation also revealed that 92% of Nigerian youths believe that their country’s economy is headed in the wrong direction.
The report stated that 54% of Nigerian young people are pessimistic about the future of the country
The survey, based on a poll of 5,604 people aged 18 to 24 in 16 African countries, stated that corruption is seen as the single greatest hurdle faced by Nigerian and other African youths to achieve their potential, adding that 60% of young people are looking to emigrate from the continent in the next five years.
“Most of all, they don’t believe their governments are doing enough to address this scourge and because of it almost 60% are looking to emigrate in the next five years,” it said.
North America is the top destination for African youths, followed by Western European countries like the UK, France, Germany, and Spain.
The Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA) has issued a flood alert to Nigerians as the management of the Lagdo Dam in Cameroon is set to begin regulated water releases into the country.
In a statement on Tuesday, Umar Mohammed, NIHSA’s director-general, said the dam’s regulated water releases will commence on September 17.
Mohammed said the dam managers intend to release the water gradually so as not to exceed the transfer capacity of River Benue and cause major flooding in Nigeria. He said the water will be released at an initial rate of 100 cubic metres per second (m3/s) — 8.64 million cubic metres per day, and gradually increased to 1000 m¾s in the next seven days.
Notwithstanding, it is highly imperative for all states that are contiguous to the Benue River system, namely —Adamawa, Taraba, Benue, Nasarawa, Kogi, Edo, Delta, Anambra, Bayelsa, Cross Rivers, and Rivers; the government at all levels (Federal, State, and LGAs) to step up vigilance and deploy adequate preparedness measures to reduce possible impacts of flooding that may occur as a result of increased flow levels of our major rivers at this period,” the statement reads.
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