BREAKING: Supreme Court Gives Verdict on Suit Seeking to Prevent Governors from Dissolving LGAs

• The Supreme Court of Nigeria has freed Local Government (LG) councils across the country from the control of the state governors
• The apex court the 36 state governors from dissolving democratically elected LG councils in the country
• Justice Emmanuel Agim said dissolving democratically elected LG councils amount to a breach of the 1999 Constitution

Legit.ng journalist Adekunle Dada has over 5 years of experience covering metro and government policy

FCT, Abuja - In a landmark judgement, the Supreme Court of Nigeria has barred governors from dissolving democratically elected Local Government (LG) councils in the country.

The apex court ruled that dissolving democratically elected LG councils would amount to a breach of the 1999 Constitution.

The judgement was delivered on Thursday, July 11 following the suit filed by the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), the Federal Government.

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According to Channels Television, the AGF’s suit, which was on 27 grounds sought an order preventing the governors from arbitrarily dissolving democratically elected councils.

The Supreme Court said the defendants, the 36 state governors, just wasted their time in the suit by opposing the AGF for instituting the case.

Justice Emmanuel Agim scolded governors for their decades-long refusal of autonomy for local governments.

Legit.ng earlier reported that the Supreme Court ordered direct payment of allocation to all the 774 local government areas in Nigeria.

The apex court held that the 774 local government councils in the country should manage their funds themselves.

The seven-member panel of justices held that the governors had abused their powers by retaining and using the funds meant for LGAs.

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In a related development, Legit.ng reported that former president Goodluck Jonathan also declared his readiness to fight for full autonomy for the local councils in 2012.

Jonathan said no meaningful development could be achieved in the country if the councils were not vibrant and not allowed to function.

He said that since the councils were the closest tier of government to the people, the rising wave of insecurity in the country would have been reduced if they had been functioning well.

Proofread by Kola Muhammed, journalist and copyeditor at Legit.ng

Source: Legit.ng