The Supreme Court’s judgement on financial autonomy for local government is a victory for democracy. It is also a victory for true federalism which most Nigerians yearn for. It is indeed a welcome development that the caretaker committee arrangement, which is strange to the 1999 Constitution, will no longer be used to choose officials of the local governments. The apex court’s ruling is in line with Section 7 (1) of the Constitution which states that “the system of local government councils is under this constitution guaranteed.”It is laudable that henceforth only democratically elected officials shall superintend the affairs of the local governments. The judgement also abolished the joint state/local government account and directed that henceforth the allocation of local governments should be paid to them directly from FAAC. It condemned the dissolution of elected local government officials by state governors. Most Nigerians have hailed the judgement, which they believe will make the LGs function effectively and serve the interest of the people at the grassroots. Only a negligible few are kicking against some aspects of the judgement and raising unnecessary dust over a matter that will deepen our democracy. The Attorney-General of the Federation and the Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), deserve commendation for instituting the case on financial autonomy for the LGs and seeing it through.
He is likely to institute more cases to deepen this democracy. And the Godswill Akpabio-led National Assembly will take it from there and make more laws that will strengthen our nascent democracy. In the same vein, the federal government should be commended for following and believing in due process. The victory is for all Nigerians. It shows that the rule of law is seemingly working and that the judiciary is the last hope of the common man. For the first time, the governors can no longer run the affairs of the LGs through their appointed surrogates. They can no longer treat the accounts of the councils as their ATMs. It is hoped that the judgement will allow the councils to breathe and function effectively as the third tier of government. I don’t know how some governors will be feeling now over the Supreme Court judgement. Appealing the judgment is not an option at all. No matter how they feel about the judgement, they should begin to face reality and learn how to live with it and restructure their lifestyle and greed.
Installing their surrogates at the councils through the present move to rush some council polls may likely not be effective. When will the LGs start getting their allocations directly from FAAC as was the case in 1999 during the era of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration? Can there be fair and transparent election at the grassroots when the State Independent Electoral Commissions (SIECs) are under the firm grip and control of the state governors? How can the governors work with elected chairmen and officials of LGs who are not members of their political parties? Will the governors abandon their roles to the local people simply because they are no longer in charge of the affairs of the councils? Put differently, they no longer control the purse of the LGs or use the funds as their pocket money.
Without doubt, granting financial autonomy to the LGs will quicken the development of the 774 council areas hitherto abandoned since the inception of the state/local government joint account, which has been utterly abused by almost all the 36 state governors. Forget about those who claim that they conduct council polls in their states. Such polls conducted by SIECs are nothing but mere coronation ceremony for their anointed candidates. They can hardly pass the true test of a democratically held election. In such elections, only the candidates of the ruling party in the state win all the seats. Under normal circumstance, a political party is not supposed to win all the seats in an election, no matter its popularity.
Despite granting financial autonomy to the LGs, Nigerians must work in concert to ensure that there is truly a democratically elected government at the third tier of government as was the case in 1999. The little progress achieved by the local government system was at that time. The beauty of the S/Court’s ruling is that there will be political and democratic activities at the grassroots level and it will make many people go back to their villages to contest power at the third tier of government and hold elected council officials to account. The restoration of government at the LGs level will revamp economic activities at the local levels and halt the unbridled migration from the rural areas to urban areas. Those who created the 774 councils did so because they want those areas to be mini-centres of development and commerce. When the LGs had elected officials, there was peace in the hinterland and there was security. It was since the death of government in the LGs that insecurity became the order of the day. The neglect of the government at the grassroots has led to unemployment, mass poverty and erosion of cultural and social values.
There is fervent hope that the restoration of the local government system will address some of the problems of the rural poor folks and engender the much-needed development at the grassroots. Again, the huge allocations to the LGs will be judiciously used for the development of the areas, which many inhabitants have since deserted. If the money allocated to the councils has positive impact on the people of the area, Nigeria will be secure and at peace with itself. For the LGs to begin to work again, there is urgent need for attitudinal change and a reorientation of all Nigerians towards politics. We must begin to see politics as a call for service. Nigerians must see politics as a call to be selfless and exhibition of the love of country first before any other mundane consideration. Those who will be in charge of the LGs in the new dispensation must have a vision for sustainable development.
They must be abreast of the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Nigeria can achieve most of the SDGs within the target timeframe if all tiers of government can work in concert and show great commitment towards realizing them. Achieving these goals will fast-track our overall socio-economic development. On the other hand, not achieving them at the target time will retard our development. The governors should be willing to allow the LGs to enjoy full autonomy and be allowed to breathe and thrive. Governors should see LGs as partners in progress and not as political enemies. If the LGs will enjoy the new-found autonomy, there must be a semblance of order in local government administration and political structure. One, there must be a uniform tenure system in the local government. It can be three years. Since SIECs failed to live up to expectation in organizing a credible and fair poll at the grassroots, this is the right tie to scrap the SIECs. Despite years of trial and error in conducting LG polls, SIECs prove time without number that trial does not make perfect. The more they try, the more they fail.
Elections in LGs should henceforth be conducted the same day across the nation by INEC. Transparent polls at the grassroots will clearly demonstrate that Nigeria does not drift into the rumoured one-party state. All these spurious and kangaroo elections some governors are rushing to conduct in 21 states are unnecessary. There will be nothing democratic and fair about such rushed elections that will at best anoint their surrogates to manage the affairs of the councils on behalf of the governors. The withdrawal of FAAC allocations to LGs without elected officials can only commence after INEC conducts a national election for all councils.
For local government to be, live and function effectively, our politicians including the greedy governors, must be exorcised of the spirit of political greed and covetousness. Political greed is perhaps why our LGs are shadows of their old selves and why the rural areas have been abandoned and utterly deserted in most states. To ensure that the chairmen of LGs do not become the new despots, each council should have a board or council peopled by eminent and trusted opinion leaders including traditional rulers, religious leaders, youth representatives, market men and women. This group will ensure the prudent management of council funds and the timely execution of contracts and other matters. Traditional rulers will play a critical role in making the local government system function effectively. With local government in place, rural roads will be given the desired attention. Rural health centres will likely be revamped and rural water schemes will be revived. It is also hoped that rural agriculture which has suffered years of neglect will also be revived. A working LG system will largely strengthen security in rural areas.