The recent signing into law of the Anambra Local Government Administration Law 2024 by Governor Chukwuma Soludo has sparked significant criticism.
The law, passed by the state House of Assembly during a plenary session last Tuesday, has raised concerns among civil society and opposition groups.
Soludo, speaking at a press briefing shortly before signing the bill at the Governor’s Lodge in Awka on Tuesday, defended the new legislation. He argued that granting absolute autonomy to the 774 Local Government Areas would lead to “humongous chaos” and hinder sustainable development.
According to Soludo, the Supreme Court judgment did not nullify Section 7 of the 1999 Constitution, which empowers state governments to enact laws for the administration of local governments.
He emphasized that the two pieces of legislation passed by the state House of Assembly aimed to enhance transparency, foster collaboration among government tiers, and ensure consistency in local government administration.
However, the law has been met with backlash from civil society groups and opposition parties, who view it as an attempt to undermine the financial autonomy of local governments. Chief Damian Ugoh, a member of the Labour Party in Anambra, expressed concerns that the new law violated the Supreme Court’s judgment on local government autonomy.
Ugoh stated, “Signing of the LG is against the Supreme Court judgment. The bill seeks to arm-twist the chairmen to send back the local government allocation received directly from the Federal Government to the state coffers. Consequently, we, as a political party, stand by the decision of the Supreme Court, the highest court in the land, on the autonomy of Local Government and the management of their funds. That going by the extant order of the Supreme Court, the state House of Assembly cannot make laws seeking to compel the local governments to pay in their federal allocation to the state government under whatever guise.”
Similarly, the Executive Director of the Civil Rights and Liberty Organisation, Dr. Ralph Uche, described the law as “anti-people” and a mechanism designed to deprive local government councils of funds needed for grassroots development.
Uche criticized the bill, stating, “The bill seeks to compel local government areas to remit a portion of their federal allocations into a consolidated account controlled by the state, which is a wrong development.”
Soludo, however, dismissed these criticisms in his press conference following the signing of the bill. He argued that the new laws were necessary to give operational life to the Supreme Court’s judgment and did not undermine it.
According to Soludo, the question of whether local governments should be part of the federal constitution or left to individual federating units (states) to determine their local governance systems is still an unsettled issue. He pointed out that the APC committee on restructuring Nigeria had even proposed removing local governments from the Constitution altogether.
He continued, “In the context of our evolving federalism, I see the recent Supreme Court judgment regarding the direct transfer of funds belonging to the local governments as an important contribution to our search for effective and transparent administration of resources at the regional level. This is where Section 7 of the Constitution comes in handy, and the Anambra State House of Assembly has risen to the occasion. Happily, the Supreme Court did not nullify Section 7 of the Constitution.”
The governor emphasized that Section 7 of the Constitution grants state legislatures the power to legislate on the management of local government finances. He further explained that without enabling laws from the state House of Assembly, local governments would lack the legal framework for the proper use and management of their finances, as mandated by the Constitution. Soludo also noted that in many states, the Houses of Assembly retain the power to suspend or remove local government chairpersons.
He drew a parallel, asking, “Isn’t the legislative authority exercised by the State Assemblies under Section 7 of the Constitution similar to the powers granted by the Constitution to the National Assembly over the Federal Capital Territory and its Area Councils?”
According to the governor, a key element of sustainable development at the grassroots level is structured collaboration among all tiers of government. Soludo stressed that no tier of government enjoys absolute autonomy. He warned that without collaboration between state and local governments, many local governments could end up in financial disarray, requiring state bailouts.
“The Federal Government has exclusive right over resources, but the state has exclusive right over the land,” Soludo explained. “At the state level, each state is spending a fortune on its revenue. No tier of government can function without the collaboration of others. The three tiers have the objective of the people. The FG is not completely autonomous of the state. It’s a collaborative arrangement to achieve the same objective.”
Soludo further argued that the new laws were designed to protect local governments from financial collapse and ensure that workers and retirees in Anambra’s local government system receive their salaries and pensions on time.
He said, “In Anambra, we do not want to wake up and hear that one local government pays a salary while others do not.
“With these laws, workers and retirees from the LG system in Anambra can sleep with their two eyes closed.”
He continued, “The essence of putting the money together is not for governors to put it in their pocket. If a local government wakes up one day and can’t pay salaries or gratuities, who will intervene for them? That is the beautiful thing that these laws would avoid. It is designed to unleash the creative powers of the LG as well as novel accountability and ingenuity. The constitution mandates that both the state and the LGs must jointly plan the state together.”
Soludo rejected claims that governors were coercing local government chairpersons into signing secret oaths allowing them to transfer local government funds to the state.
He responded to such insinuations, stating, “Governors are often accused of seeking to ‘control’ LG funds with insinuations that LG funds are mismanaged. Of course, in a society where public office is seen as a ‘dining table’ and public trust is low, people judge others by their standards: by what they would do if they were in the position. I often ask: control for what?”
In conclusion, Soludo reiterated that the new laws were not intended to undermine the autonomy of local governments but were necessary for fostering transparent, coordinated, and sustainable governance across all levels of government in Anambra.