With the recent judgement of the Supreme Court which okayed full autonomy for the 774 Local Government Areas in the country, lawyers have said that the Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) would soon die naturally as they cannot benefit from the federal allocations. Perhaps, that was why Governor Babajide Sanwo– Olu hinted that the pending Local Government elections in the state of Aquatic Splendor would be conducted into the 20 LGAs listed in the 1999 Constitution as amended. It would be recalled that President Bola Tinubu, when he was the governor of Lagos State, started the idea of the LCDAs. Then President Olusegun Obasanjo led the Federal Government withheld the monthly allocation due to Lagos State. However, when he won the presidential election last year, he sued the state governments over their stranglehold on the LGAs......READ THE FULL STORY>>.....READ THE FULL STORY>>
The Supreme Court in July ruled in favour of the Federal Government, granting financial autonomy to the LGAs. The Apex Court did not stop at that. It gave an October deadline to all the states to conduct elections into the LGAs. Any state, which did not, would not benefit from the monthly allocation. The judgement saw states running head over heels to conduct elections as most of them were ruled by Caretaker Committees. Lawyers, in different interviews with the Sunday Telegraph said that on the alternative, the states that created them would find another means of sponsoring them. A legal practitioner, Abiodun Olugbemide, said: “What came out from the Supreme Court is a development that had long been envisaged by the citizens. “To be sincere, the President is to be congratulated for this epoch-making event! For the 774 local governments to directly receive their funding from the Federation is a great step towards grassroots development! “It’s no longer an experience of only seeing politicians coming to campaign at the grassroots levels every four years; only to disappear into thin air, without any developments being felt. With this new development by the Supreme Court, local government chairmen cease to be puppets in the hands of the state governors, going to them like beggars. “In attending to the issue of LCDAs created by some state governors, the first question to ask is about the constitutionality of the LCDAs. Does the Constitution recognize them? The answer is no. “The Federal Government has no responsibility towards them, and I do not see the ably elected local government chairmen, releasing their long-awaited funds, to service LCDAs. “Therefore, to me, with this new development, LCDAs will die a gradual and natural death. “As I said earlier, functioning local government is pivotal to the development of communities, especially when the Central and states are absent. “In 2003, what appeared like magic, Lagos state’s 20 Local Government Areas were supplemented with the establishment of 37 Local Council Development Areas. “It must be borne in mind that LCDAs are entities not statutorily approved by the National Assembly but with the same function as LGAs. “It is to be remembered that a Supreme Court judgement once ruled the creation of LCDAs as “valid but inchoate”. Another lawyer, Paul Ayam, said:“The LCDAs were raised before the Supreme Court and not issued before the justice to determine. “The 774 LGAs plus 6 Area Councils in FCT were part of the Constitution and will receive their allocation directly from the Federation Account. “Lagos State Government and others will provide funds for the LCDAs from their internally generated revenue and allocation received from the Federation Account.”
Also reacting, another lawyer, Ahmed Maiwada, submitted: “The Nigerian Supreme Court, in the judgement on Local Government autonomy, ordered that the State Governments should steer clear from all money meant for the country’s 774 Local Government Areas; adding that the control of funds for the Local Government Councils by the states was unconstitutional. “This judgement and order came at a time when some states within the Nigerian federation had, as you have pointed out, created LCDAs of their own, other than those constitutionally recognised Local Government Councils in Nigeria. “I think that the Supreme Court made its order under the facts of the case before it and the grounds of appeal thereof. “Accordingly, and without mentioning the purported LCDAs created by the states outside the Constitution, the mere mention of the number of the Local Government Councils that corresponds with the number in the Constitution, whose money the Supreme Court has ordered the states to steer clear of, it automatically means that the pay master will not recognise any LCDA for payment, which is not listed in the Constitution. “What happens is that the states that created them should either look for the funds to pay for their continued existence and operations, or those Local Government Councils shall die. “I can also foresee that lacking the constitutional basis to exist and function, those purported Local Governments will find it impossible to assert themselves even within their own states, in terms of ownership of property, collection of taxes and generally enforcing their policies within the states, where they were unconstitutionally created. “I can imagine that anybody doing business with those Local Government Councils will be doing so at their peril.” However, some states, which are caught in the web of no election into LGAs, and no allocation have said that they are not affected by it. Katsina, Osun and Zamfara states were yet to conduct elections and have fixed February 15 and 22 to comply with the order. Chairman of the Osun State Independent Electoral Commission (OSSIEC), Ashim Abioye, said that the state Electoral umpire had set the process of the local Government election in the state, was still within the confines of the law, and the commission has begun the process and fixed the date before the ruling of the Supreme Court.
Recall that the OSSIEC had fixed February 22, 2025, for the conduct of Local Government election in the state. He said: “OSSIEC’s mandate is to conduct local government elections. My leadership came on board and having assessed the situation on the ground and learning from past experiences, we could not but act by the law. OSSIEC law provides for 360 days’ notice, the same as the Electoral Act. Failure to comply in the past led to nullification of the elections. We can’t afford to tread on the path of illegality any longer. “Well, we had a stakeholders meeting last week Tuesday with IPAC and it was during the meeting that a question was raised by a stakeholder about the possibility of drawing nearer the date of the election, so that the local government funds would not be withheld. “I addressed the issue frontally by stating that mine is to conduct elections, and the issue of local government funds is not within my mandate. That I cannot go against the laws and pronouncements of the courts. However, as a reasonable, conscious and conscientious citizen of Osun State, it would not be out of place to make the Federal Government realize that Osun’s case is peculiar and exceptional. “We gave notice of local government elections ever before the recent apex court decision on Local Government autonomy was filed. The notice is in line with the laws and the Supreme Court decision in OSSIEC .v. Action Congress. “Since the needful has been done and much that there is no caretaker committee at any local government in Osun State, I think it would be wicked of anyone to suggest that Local Government funds meant for the development of Osun people should be withheld. “This was the consideration that led the stakeholders to the points addressed by the Osun IPAC Chairman at OSSIEC premises last week Tuesday. “Let those condemning me reveal their true identities and come out open to tell the people of Osun State that they will be advocating that the Federal Government should withhold Osun Local Government allocations.
