For the umpteenth time, the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, recently issued a stern warning to the 774 local government councils in the country against mismanaging or looting public funds.
He stressed that the autonomy granted to local governments by the Supreme Court is to empower the grassroots and not for carting public funds into private pockets as such attitude will not go unpunished.
The AGF’s caution was not only apt and timely but also inevitable, considering the likelihood of conspiracy between local government chairmen and state governors to misappropriate the councils’ funds. The snag, however, is the conflict of the apex court ruling and the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended).
Speaking in Abuja last week at the 2024 annual conference of the National Association of Judiciary correspondents, Fagbemi charged the council chairmen to fulfil their responsibilities effectively. He emphasised the importance of accountability and good governance, reiterating that tampering with local government funds would attract severe legal consequences, including imprisonment.
He said if the local councils choose to tamper with public funds and fail to deliver on their constitutional mandates, they risk going to jail, noting that the trust placed in them must not be betrayed. The AGF, while highlighting the role local governments play in promoting grassroots development, urged the chairmen and other officials to prioritise their constitutional duties.
He said, “Primary education must be accessible to every child, pregnant women and infants must receive quality healthcare, and the vulnerable in our society must benefit from sustainable welfare programmes.”
The AGF also complained about the actions of some state governments that have chosen to undermine local government autonomy. He referenced the Supreme Court’s rulings mandating financial and administrative independence for local governments, criticising states that attempt to bypass these rulings through questionable legislation.
“Any debt incurred by local governments must align with their constitutional functions. Projects like building airports, which are outside their scope, will not be tolerated,” he asserted.
The AGF commended the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration for its commitment to strengthening governance structures at all levels. He urged local government officials to embrace transparency, warning that the era of impunity was over. He said good governance is a collaborative effort, and every tier of government must be held accountable.
It is instructive that the AGF had, soon after the Supreme Court judgement ordering the direct payment of funds to the local government councils in July, warned the council chairmen and their councillors to make judicious use of monies allocated to them because they and not the governors of their respective states would be held accountable.
The federal government had dragged the 36 states of the federation to the Supreme Court over alleged retention, conversion and misuse of funds allocated to the local government because the funds were usually paid into a joint account belonging to the states and local governments.
Based on the submissions of the federal government and attached evidence, the apex court in its judgement ordered the Federal Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) to henceforth disburse funds accruable to them directly.
Assuring that the move by the federal government to ensure funds are available for grassroots development henceforth, the minister observed that it would be very easy to handle the local governments because the chairmen unlike the governors do not have immunity.
“It is very easy to put them where they belong, when the need arises. Besides, If a governor asks you to commit a crime, he will not follow you to Kuje prison”, he said.
Fagbemi urged anti-corruption agencies to pick up the challenge and not to hesitate in arresting and prosecuting local government chairmen who divert the funds meant for their council to other ventures.
Blueprint, however, observes that the AGF’s oft-warning to the local councils is a mere academic exercise. This is based on the fact that despite the July 2024 Supreme Court ruling granting full financial autonomy to the local governments, about six months after, the allocations were still paid to state government accounts. The FAAC had disbursed a total of N2.08 trillion in allocations to local government councils between July and December 2024.
The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, had explained that the federal government was yet to commence direct payment to the respective local government due to some “practical impediments.” He disclosed that a committee had been set up by the federal government to look at the practicability of the judgment.
It is our view that the delay in the implementation of the Supreme Court judgement granting financial autonomy to local government councils may not be unconnected to section 162(4-6) of the constitution bordering on the management of financial resources between the state and local governments.
Consequently, we advise the federal government to address this conflict of laws (constitutional and judicial) as a pragmatic step towards the seamless implementation of the Supreme Court ruling on local government autonomy.