The Nigerian presidency has criticized the Labour Party’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi, for his silence on the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling granting financial autonomy to local councils.
According to Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy, “Peter Obi’s silence over 36 hours after the Supreme Court’s ruling is deafening. His quickness to tweet unverified news about the Tinubu administration or our country is well-known, but his failure to acknowledge this epochal judgment is telling.”
Onanuga said that a good opposition statesman should be willing to praise their political opponent when they have achieved something significant. “The Tinubu administration has successfully given life back to our emasculated councils through the law. Even Atiku Abubakar has acknowledged this. But Peter Obi remains silent. He should break his silence and acknowledge that President Tinubu is making a great Nigeria possible.”
The presidency’s criticism comes after the Supreme Court’s ruling, which grants financial autonomy to Nigeria’s 774 local councils.
It should be recalled that the judgment, delivered on Thursday, July 11, 2024, declared it unconstitutional for state governors to withhold funds meant for local government administrations.
The Supreme Court also barred governors from dissolving democratically elected local government councils, stating that doing so would breach the 1999 Constitution. The judgment ruled that only democratically elected local government administrations, not caretaker committees, are entitled to manage their funds.
