The Kwara State Government has requested the Supreme Court to dismiss the suit filed by the Federal Government seeking full autonomy for Nigeria’s 774 Local Government Councils. .
This legal contention stems from a broader debate on the structure and distribution of power between the federal and state governments.
In a legal process submitted to the apex court, the Kwara State government argued that granting the federal government’s reliefs would “further impoverish most Nigerians who are downtrodden in the local government areas.” The Counter Affidavit to the Originating Summons, filed by the Kwara Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Senior Ibrahim-Sulyman, was obtained by the News Agency of Nigeria on Tuesday in Abuja.
The state Attorney-General has asked the Supreme Court to dismiss the federal government’s Originating Summons and the reliefs sought therein, emphasizing that this dismissal is in the interest of justice. The Federal Government initiated this legal action against the Attorneys General of the 36 states, citing alleged misconduct in the administration of local government councils.
The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), is leading the suit, which seeks full autonomy for all local government councils in the country. ..
Specifically, the Federal Government is asking the court to prohibit state governors from the unilateral, arbitrary, and unlawful dissolution of democratically elected local government leaders. Additionally, Fagbemi has called for an order to withhold funds from states that unlawfully dissolve democratically elected local government officials and replace them with illegal Transitional Implementation Committees.
Fagbemi has also requested that the Supreme Court mandate the direct payment of monthly allocations to local governments from the Federation Account, in accordance with constitutional provisions, as opposed to the current practice involving joint state-local government accounts managed by state governors.
However, the Kwara AG, who is the 23rd defendant in the case, has contested this view. He argues that the plaintiff’s stance on joint accounts is “grossly misconceived and a contradiction to the provisions of Section 162 (6) and (8) of the Constitution.” According to these sections, funds meant for local governments must be allocated to the state in a special statutory account and then distributed to local governments as prescribed by the state’s House of Assembly.
Ibrahim-Sulyman cited a precedent from a Supreme Court decision in a similar case between Abia State and the Attorney General of the Federation. He noted that the court had ruled that “The National Assembly cannot validly make a law permitting the direct allocation of funds to the local government Councils. Rather, such money must be allocated directly to the state, which shall in turn pay same into the state joint local government account vide section 162 (6) of the Constitution.”
The Kwara AG argued that the federal government is attempting to overstep its legislative function through the judiciary. He suggested that the appropriate course of action for the plaintiff would be to sponsor a bill to amend the constitution or create a new statute, rather than seeking judicial intervention to change the law.
Ibrahim-Sulyman also refuted claims that Kwara State has failed to disburse local government funds from the federation account, asserting that allocations are released monthly. He added that the state is not known for undermining democracy at the local government level, explaining that delays in local government elections were due to ongoing litigation concerning the tenure of the Kwara State Independent Electoral Commission. Elections are now scheduled for September 21, 2024.
Furthermore, the Kwara AG argued that the federal government has no authority to withhold funds meant for local governments. He referenced a previous case involving Lagos State, where the Supreme Court ruled that the President lacks the power to withhold statutory allocations due to a state. Thus, he urged the Supreme Court to affirm that the federal government does not have the constitutional power to stop, redirect, or withhold the statutory allocations meant for local government councils in Kwara.
