Supreme Court Reserves Judgment in Landmark Case: Fate of Local Government Autonomy Hangs in Balance
Eaglessightnews reports that the Supreme Court has reserved judgment in a lawsuit filed by the Federal Government against 36 state governors, seeking autonomy for local government areas.
The lawsuit, filed by Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), seeks to ban state governors from arbitrarily dissolving democratically elected local governments. The government is also asking the apex court to stop governors from maintaining joint accounts with local governments, describing it as unlawful and in violation of the provisions of the Constitution.
The Federal Government wants the Supreme Court to prohibit governors from forming Caretaker Committees to manage local governments in violation of the Constitution’s recognised and protected democratic system. Additionally, the government seeks an injunction prohibiting governors, their agents, and privies from receiving, spending, or tampering with funds released from the Federation Account for the benefit of local governments in states without a democratically elected local government system.
According to the suit, Nigeria as a federation was created by the 1999 Constitution, as amended, with the President as Head of the Federal executive arm, swearing on oath to defend and give effect to sections of the Constitution.
The apex court had earlier given 36 defendants seven days to file their defence and also given the AGF two days to file his reply upon receipt of the governors’ defence. “That within 2 days of service, the plaintiff will reply after being served the reply of the defendant Counter affidavit,” the court stated in May. The court held that the decision was predicated on the urgency of the suit and the non-objection from the Attorneys-General of the states.
The judgment, whose date is yet to be determined, will have far-reaching implications for the country’s governance structure and the relationship between federal and state governments.
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