*Victory for democracy, says former speaker
*LG chairmen will be more accountable -former LG commissioner
Reactions have continued to trail the recent Supreme Court judgement that affirmed the financial autonomy of local governments in Nigeria. Notable political stakeholders in Niger State have applauded the judgement, calling it another victory for democracy and the rule of law.
It would be recalled that in a landmark judgement delivered by five justices of Nigeria's supreme court, led by Justice Emmanuel Agim on Thursday, in a case instituted by the 36 state governors last year challenging the federal government's direct allocation of funds to local governments from the federation account, the apex court held that the power of the government was portioned into three arms of government: the federal, the state, and the local government.
Justice Agim declared, “I hold that the state’s retention of the local government funds is unconstitutional.
“Demands of justice require a progressive interpretation of the law. It is the position of this court that the federation can pay LG allocations to the LGs directly or pay them through the states.
“In this case, since paying them through states has not worked, justice in this case demands that LG allocations from the federation account should henceforth be paid directly to the LGs.”
The judgement held that local government council funds must be paid to only democratically elected local government councils, stating that “anything other than this will be taken as gross misconduct.”
“A declaration that the state government has no power or control to keep the local government council money or funds.
"An order of injunction restraining the defendants by themselves, agents, or privies from spending local government allocation.
“A declaration that no state government should be paid any money meant for the local government.
“Immediate compliance with this judgement is ordered,” the apex court declared.
Justice Agim dismissed the objections filed by state governors.
Reacting, former legislator Malik Madaki Bosso said democracy has won and called for the removal of immunity for state governors to make them more accountable to the people.
He said since local government chairmen have no immunity from immediate prosecution, the people will now hold them accountable, describing the development as a true case of democracy working where power resides with the people.
Malik then called on the National Assembly to immediately commence the process of amending the constitution to remove immunity for governors, as was the case with local government chairmen, so as to make state executives more accountable to the people.
"Giving financial autonomy to local governments is a welcome development, as this will make the chairmen more accountable since they have no immunity from immediate prosecution if they are found wanting, and this, I believe, will spur development.
"The next thing is for the National Assembly to immediately commence the process of amending the constitution to remove immunity for governors since they also receive direct allocation from the federal government so as to make them more accountable. Without accountability, there will be no development," he asserted.
The former speaker of the Niger State House of Assembly, Bar. Abdullahi Bawa Wuse, said the judgement confirmed the long-held belief that state governments were acting in error by holding local government funds.
He said attention should now be shifted to the actual implementation of the judgement, pointing out that the problem with the Nigerian system was the operators of the system. He said that to achieve the intended purposes, the people themselves must take charge of their own money for real development to take place.
The former speaker said it was now time for the majority of Nigerians who are in rural areas to enjoy the benefits of democracy, calling on both the National Assembly and the executive branch of government to review the percentage allocation to local governments to encourage development in rural areas.
Also contributing to the discourse, the former Niger State Commissioner for Local Governments and Chieftaincy Affairs, Emmanuel Umar Bagna, said that with this, local government chairmen would be forced to devise better ways to utilise the funds allocated to their councils to achieve developmental purposes.
He said the fear that the burden of responsibility will increase on the council chairmen since state governments will no longer take any responsibility will be addressed if the councils do away with westages and focus on things that are critical to the local governments.
He applauded the decision of the supreme court justices, describing it as a big victory for the long-suffering rural dwellers who have carried the brunt of neglect for a very long time without respite until now.
He said, "If local governments are allowed to function now, it brings development to the grassroots; it brings development to the common man on the street. Local governments will now be able to carry out their scheduled responsibilities.
"Fixing of roads, taking care of their health facilities, their cemeteries, markets, and other things scheduled under their responsibility, and this will create more accountability because people will be asking questions. This issue will create more awareness among the rural people, and that's the real purpose of democracy," he averred.