Pidgin News Today : Supreme Court: States Weh Get Caretaker Committee No Go Get FAAC Money
Mike Ozekhome, wey be Senior Advocate of Nigeria, don talk say di Supreme Court judgement on top Local Government Council Autonomy mean say Federation Account Allocation Committee no go release money to Rivers, Abia, Anambra, Katsina, Zamfara, Akwa Ibom, Cross River and other states wey get Caretaker Committee as LGA chairmen.
Ozekhome yarn this one for Friday for one interview with Channels Television, wey DAILY POST monitor.
Di judgement clear well well. If you wan collect money from federation account, you must conduct election. If na caretaker committee dey as local government chairman, no expect any money from federation account. To get money from federation account, di councils must be democratically elected.
Di Supreme Court verdict endorse full local government autonomy and order say make funds from Federation Account dey paid directly to LG accounts. Di country highest court don stop governors from dey receive and tamper with local government allocations. Supreme Court also talk say governors no fit dey dissolve democratically elected officials for local governments again, as e go be breach of di 1999 Constitution.
Bullet Points Highlights:
- Supreme Court judgement on Local Government Council Autonomy.
- Federation Account Allocation Committee no go release funds to states with Caretaker Committee LGA chairmen.
- States affected include Rivers, Abia, Anambra, Katsina, Zamfara, Akwa Ibom, Cross River.
- Councils must be democratically elected to receive funds.
- Supreme Court endorse full local government autonomy.
- Funds to be paid directly to LG accounts.
- Governors no fit tamper with local government allocations again.
- Dissolving democratically elected local government officials na breach of di 1999 Constitution.
For our own view
Di Supreme Court judgement wey stop states with caretaker committee from receiving funds from the Federation Account na major step for local government autonomy for Nigeria. Dis decision fit change the political landscape for many states, as e go force governors to conduct elections for local government councils if dem wan access federal funds.
Di move dey aimed to ensure say local governments get di funds wey dem need to operate independently and serve their communities better, without interference from state governors. E go also promote democracy at the grassroots level, as elected officials go dey accountable to di people wey elect dem, instead of being handpicked by governors.
But, di challenge na how quickly states fit adjust to dis new requirement. Some states fit struggle to conduct immediate elections, especially those wey no prepare for am. Dis fit lead to temporary funding issues for local governments in those states.
Overall, di Supreme Court decision dey align with di principles of true federalism and grassroots democracy. E dey important make states comply quickly to ensure say local governments no suffer from lack of funds, wey fit affect service delivery and development projects for di grassroots level.