The 36 state governors in Nigeria have expressed their satisfaction with the Supreme Court’s judgment granting fiscal autonomy to local government areas.
According to the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum and Governor of Kwara State, AbdulRazaq AbdulRahman, the governors are pleased with the ruling and will review it further to determine the next steps.
AbdulRahman made the remark in a meeting with President Bola Tinubu and the 36 state governors on Friday.
He stressed that the NGF has requested the enrollment of the judgment and will meet next Wednesday to discuss the implications and come up with a resolution.
He emphasized that the governors have not seen the full details of the court order yet, but they are generally supportive of the ruling, according to Politics Nigeria.
The Kwara State Governor also assured that the judgment will not negatively affect his state, as they have always managed local government funds transparently.
He believes that the autonomy will enable local governments to manage themselves more effectively, especially with the upcoming minimum wage implementation.
AbdulRahman and his Imo State counterpart, Hope Uzodimma, met with President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Villa to discuss various issues, including the minimum wage, the Supreme Court ruling, and other national issues affecting states.
“The forum will meet next Wednesday, to look at the issue wholly and then come up with a resolution on that.”
“Like I said, we haven’t seen the enrollment of the court order and so we really don’t know what is in there,” he stated.