Supreme Court judgement on LGA autonomy has created a locuna—Makinde

Oyo state Governor  Seyi Makinde  has  said the Supreme Court judgement granting autonomy to the local government councils across the country has created a lacuna between the decision and the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

He also said despite the verdict, the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) will still pay the local government allocations into the States/Local Governments Joint Account as stipulated in the 1999 Constitution.

…What the Constitution says

Section 162(3) of the Constitution stipulates that “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.”

Specifically, Governor Makinde said the FAAC will,  at its Tuesday (July, 16) meeting, delay the implementation of the decision for the next 90 days.

The governor stated this at an emergency consultative stakeholders’ meeting in Ibadan, held at the Executive Chamber of the Governor’s Office, during which he set up two committees namely technical and legal committee to review the apex court’s verdict.

The committee was given four weeks to present her report to the government.

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Makinde said: “Let me thank you all for joining this important consultative meeting. I want us to discuss the decision of the Supreme Court as it concerns the financial autonomy of the local government councils.

“I believe a lacuna has been created between the decision and the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. We all swore to uphold the constitution but the law is the law. If the law is in conflict, it behoves us to look for our home-grown solution that can ensure that we have transparency and operate with our people. This is because when two elephants are fighting, the grass will suffer.

“Let me also recall that since the beginning of this administration, we have conducted two local government elections and I dare to say ‘did I not tell you’? When I was sworn in, I dissolved the local government. The Supreme Court just basically said to us that governors don’t have the right to dissolve the councils but why did I dissolve them then?

“It was because elections were held into the LCDAs and the same Supreme Court has now said that only 774 LGAs are in Nigeria. So, there is confusion in the land, but when you have confusion, what it means is that the structure is shaking and we have to remove much of that confusion as much as possible.

“So, we will be outlining the major challenges we have at the local government areas so that we can develop our own solution. And the challenges, if addressed, will ensure that we have a seamless implementation of the process that can allow Oyo State to continue to grow.”

 “On the issue of LG elections in Oyo State, we don’t have caretaker committees at the local level. We planned the elections in a way that not a single day was given out. We have a responsible government in Oyo State, we don’t need the federal government to tell us what to do. We know what is good and we know what is good for our people.

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“Go back a little bit, what we inherited as an administration in 2019 was a local government system that was owing a backlog of salaries, gratuities, and pensions. I am saying this because Oyo State will get out of this even stronger. We are people that know what is good for our people. We can run our affairs by ourselves. The FG is not superior constitutionally to the state government though they have more resources than the states. So, we can do what is right in Oyo State and we have been doing what is right.

“For the primary school teachers, the Chairman of NUT is here. Before we came in, leave bonuses were last paid in 2017 and we paid that in 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023. The Primary healthcare facilities and inner roads were all in bad shape. We have been working collaboratively with the LGs to deliver dividends of democracy to our people.

“We were able to clear those salary arrears. We paid N18bn in pension and gratuities over these periods. We upgraded about 209 PHCs, equipped about 264, and completed 60 model schools. We constructed and renovated hundreds of primary school classrooms and fixed some inner roads but there are still challenges that we have to address. We still have a backlog of gratuities and pensions.

“The local government owes about N55bn in pension and gratuities. We are developing infrastructure that would push the economy and raise the living standard of their people and push their economy towards sustainable goals.

“But for us, at that time, our priority was not to deploy resources. What I am hearing right now is that our problem is not also money but how to share it. But I insist that our problem is not how to share money but how to bake a bigger cake and bring our people out of hunger and poverty and stop the anger in the land.

“Our people do not care if the road is fixed by the FG or the state government or the LG. They just want to see good roads. An example is the Oyo-Iseyin road through Fasola, which is a federal government road but the state government fixed it and I have the letter for the FG when I wrote it for approval. It is a critical road to the Oyo State economy.

“I believe it is our problem irrespective of what they are doing at the federal level. We know what is important to the lives of our own people here in Oyo State. I learned that FAAC is tomorrow (Tuesday) and all of you can come. We will delay the implementation for the next ninety days, which is three FAACs from now. They will still pay the money into the JAAC account.

“You make the law, you break it. So, the law is at your own peril. That is not how to run a country. If you make the law, let us all obey the law. For us in Oyo State, we can solve our own problems, deal with our situation, and prioritize our people. Our pass mark is to discuss among ourselves and whatever we agree upon.

“I am not saying things should not be transparent at the local government level but it is a distraction to say this is the magic bullet that will wash away our problems. NULGE is here, NUP, NUT, and others are here. So, let us sit down and discuss and fashion out our own way out of this issue”, Governor Makinde added.

At the meeting were  members of the Oyo state chapter of the Association of Local Government of Nigeria (ALGON), the Attorney General of the state and Commissioner for Justice, Barrister Abiodun Aikomo, Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters, Otunba Ademola Ojo, and Chairman House of Assembly Committee on Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters, among others.

Also at the meeting were representatives of the Nigeria Labor Congress (NLC), Trade Union Congress (TUC), Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE), Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NUP), and Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) among others.