The senate asked states and local governments to immediately comply with the supreme court judgement, particularly relating to local government accounts and the funds given directly to them.
Today’s plenary session at the senate got rowdy over enforceability of financial autonomy granted to the 774 Local Government Councils across the country by the supreme court in August, 2024.
This followed a motion under orders 41 and 51 of the senate standing rules moved by Sen. Tony Nwoye (LP, Anambra north) at commencement of plenary.
Nwoye’s motion, co-sponsored by 12 other senators, was on the alleged move by some state governments to circumvent implementation of the judgement through laws from their respective state houses of assembly.
Presenting his motion, he alleged that some state governors are already using the assemblies to enact laws that would mandate respective local government councils to remit monies into state/local government joint accounts ruled against by the supreme court.
He expressed concern that the “modus operandi of subverting this financial autonomy of local governments by state governments through their houses of assembly is to insert clauses in their laws requiring the local governments upon receipt of their allocation from federation account to remit all or majority or substantial portion of their allocation to a dedicated account which the state governments will keep, control, manage or disburse for them using some nomenclatures like state/LGA joint account, state/LGA consolidated revenue account, local government joint security trust account, etc.”
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Recall that the supreme court earlier in the year ruled that state governors cannot retain money intended for local government administrations because it is unconstitutional. Additionally, the court prohibited governors from dissolving democratically elected local government councils as it claimed that doing so would violate the 1999 Constitution (as amended).
Shortly after presenting the motion, Sen. Adamu Aliero (PDP, Kebbi central), raised a constitutional point of order to stop the debate on the motion. Citing section 287 of the 1999 constitution that makes supreme court judgement enforceable across the country, Aliero urged the senate not to overflog the issue.
“Supreme court judgement is enforceable across the country. There is no need for us to be debating anything that has to do with it here,” he said.
In aligning with Aliero, the President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio, called the attention of senators to section 162 (6) of the constitution, which according to him created the state/local government joint account that has to be amended in paving way for full implementation of the supreme court judgement.
“I think what we need to do is to carry out required amendments of certain provisions of the constitution as far as local governments autonomy is concerned,” he said.
Nwoye thereafter raised order 42 of the senate standing rules on personal explanation. Sen. Summaila Kawu (NNPP, Kano South) also raised similar point of order.
These points of order prompted confusion in the chamber with many senators rushing to the senate president for personal consultation, which eventually, made the senate go into an emergency closed-door session at exactly 12: 46pm.
After returning from the closed-door session which lasted for over an hour, the Deputy President of the Senate, Barau Jibrin, presented two prayers from the motion which was adopted in the executive session.
The first prayer was to urge all state and local governments to fully comply with the recent supreme court judgement in the disbursement and utilisation of funds across all local governments in Nigeria.
The second prayer is to ensure that the senate ensures alterations for relevant provisions of the constitution to provide for the full autonomy of the local governments in Nigeria.
STAR Check: Nigerians, particularly, constituents of Anambra north district, can keep tabs on the legislative performance of Sen. Nwoye throughout the 10th senate here.
