Oyo State governor, Seyi Makinde, has described the Supreme Court’s judgment on local government autonomy as a distraction.
According to him, Nigeria is currently grappling with more pressing issues.
In a video released on Saturday, Makinde emphasized the need to address the underlying problems of productivity, hunger, and anger in Nigeria.
“The judgment of the Supreme Court, there is local government autonomy, financial autonomy, and all of that, and I will still say it, I think it’s just a distraction. We must face the real issues that we have,” Makinde said.
“The issue that we have is that we are not producing enough. We are not productive.”
In a landmark judgment delivered by Justice Emmanuel Agim, a seven-member panel of the Supreme Court ruled that the 774 local government councils in Nigeria have the constitutional right to manage their finances autonomously without interference from state governments.
The court also directed that local government allocations be paid directly to councils across the country.
The court held that caretaker committees are not entitled to allocations are they are not recognized by the constitution.
