The Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) has reacted to the recent judgement by the Supreme Court granting financial autonomy to local government authorities in the country.
AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, chairman of the NGF, said the judgement is a “relief from the financial burden to state governments.”
AbdulRazaq, also the governor of Kwara, said there will be total compliance with the Supreme Court ruling by the governors.
Noted that the governors are “happy with the devolution of power regarding local government autonomy”.
AbdulRazaq said the public “really don’t know how much states spend on bailing out local governments.”
“We welcome the ruling of the supreme court, compliance is a given, and our attorney generals have applied for the enrollment order, which we’ll study carefully,” he said.
He added that “the forum will meet next Wednesday to look at the issue wholly and then come up with a resolution”.
“Like I said, we haven’t seen the enrollment of the court order, and so we really don’t know what is in there,” he said.
Speaking on the implications for states that do not have elected LGA officials, the NGF chairman, who cited Kwara as an example, said the judgment will not negatively affect the states.
He noted that the state government has not been tampering with council funds.
“It’s not going to affect the state. We have never tampered with local government funds. So it is going to continue,” he said.
“What the local governments have to do is manage themselves, especially with the coming minimum wage, to manage their affairs and make sure salaries are paid, traditional rulers get their five percent and those are the main issues.”
