The Federal Government has outlined a series of charges in its ongoing legal battle at the Supreme Court, seeking to enforce the autonomy of local governments across Nigeria. The case, SC/CV/343/2024, underscores the constitutional mandate for democratically elected local government systems and challenges the actions of state governors who have failed to comply.

Charges Presented by the Federal Government:

  1. Recognition of Three Tiers of Government: The Federal Government asserts that the Nigerian Constitution recognizes the federal, state, and local governments as three distinct tiers. Each of these tiers is entitled to draw funds from the federation account established by the constitution.
  2. Requirement for Democratically Elected Local Governments: The constitution mandates that local governments must be democratically elected. It does not provide for any other system of governance at the local level.
  3. Failure to Establish Elected Local Governments: The Federal Government argues that many governors have failed to establish democratically elected local governments, despite the absence of any state of emergency that might justify the suspension of democratic institutions.
  4. Subversion of the Constitution: The failure of governors to establish democratically elected local governments is described as a deliberate subversion of the 1999 Constitution, which both the President and the governors have sworn to uphold.
  5. Undermining the Constitution: Continued disbursement of funds from the federation account to state governors, for non-existent democratically elected local governments, is seen as undermining the sanctity of the 1999 Constitution. Despite various efforts, compliance with this constitutional requirement has not been achieved.

The Federal Government is urging the Supreme Court to invoke sections 1, 4, 5, 7, and 14 of the Constitution to declare that governors and state houses of assembly are obligated to ensure democratically elected systems at the local government level.

As the Supreme Court prepares to announce its verdict today, the outcome of this case is highly anticipated. However, regardless of the decision, it is expected that the debate over local government autonomy and the enforcement of constitutional mandates will continue.