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Nigeria’s Supreme Court in a landmark ruling has barred the governors of the country’s 36 states from retaining or utilizing funds intended for the 774 Local Government Areas (LGAs). The court deemed the practice illegal and unconstitutional, citing Section 162 of the 1999 Constitution.
Justice Emmanuel Agim, delivering the lead judgement, emphasized that no state House of Assembly has the authority to enact laws that interfere with LGA funds. He described the governors’ actions over the past two decades as a “dubious practice.”
The court ordered that funds allocated to LGAs must be directly paid to them from the federation account, reinforcing the constitutional mandate that LGAs be governed by democratically elected officials. The ruling noted, “Demands of justice require a progressive interpretation of the law. It is the position of this court that the federation can pay LGA allocations to the LGAs directly or pay them through the states. In this case, since paying them through states has not worked, justice of this case demands that LGA allocations from the federation account should henceforth be paid directly to the LGAs.”
Additionally, the court declared the appointment of caretaker committees to run the LGAs as unconstitutional and mandated that the 36 states ensure democratic governance at the third tier of government.
The Federal Government of Nigeria initiated the lawsuit against the state governments to secure financial autonomy for the LGAs.
