The Supreme Court judgement affirming the autonomy of the third tier of government by directing that it should be presided over by democratically elected executives and their allocations credited directly to their accounts and the way the judgement is being implemented has highlighted reasons why democracy has not grown and flourished as expected in Nigeria.

To circumvent what is now the new law, Nigerian politicians are developing new strategies, projecting an image of obeying the law while making nonsense of it. Nothing exemplifies this more than the hurriedly put-together local government elections in about half of the federation states where only the incumbent parties have won all the Chairmanship positions and Councillorship seats. The only exception was Rivers State which took a different route for other political considerations.

To the governors, the political exigency of exercising financial and administrative control over the local governments was paramount to doing things right and deepening democracy. Would there still be democracy in Nigeria if the government at the centre deploys the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) against the subnational during gubernatorial elections? That is doubtful. It is both appalling and concerning the way the state governors deploy their state independent electoral commissions against opposing parties in the states. Perhaps this explains but does not justify why opposition political parties struggle to win off-cycle elections in the states where they are the incumbents. The recent Edo governorship election comes readily to mind.

Alluding to the governors’ chicaneries and shenanigans associated with local government elections at the weekend, Former Rivers State Governor and now FCT Minister Nyesom Wike said: “The LG election is not a general election. Do you think we will allow you to carry the results sheet to the government house and then announce it without scores? Would allow you in general elections? It is not going to be possible” he was talking about the recently conducted local government election in Rivers State.

On Saturday, a local government election was held in Kaduna State. The Kaduna State Independent Electoral Commission declared that the APC secured victories in all the 23 local government areas and 255 ward councils throughout the state. A lot of people in Kaduna contend that elections weren’t held in the state. In a few places where there was a semblance of the election, it was shabbily conducted with materials not getting to several polling units.

A lot of Nigerians think and are optimistic that granting the local government full autonomy will enable them to perform effectively and render services to the people at the grassroots. There are items in the constitution that are responsibilities of the local government which are not being discharged. The governors on the other hand believe that it is not possible to have the local governments as being autonomous. The constitution recognises a joint finance board between the two tiers of government.

Lagos Wants to Amend A Constitutional Breach?
Reacting to the import of the Supreme Court Judgement, the Lagos state House of Assembly is planning a major overhaul of its local government structure. The House wants to replace the existing 37 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) with new administrative areas. In truth, money will not be sent from the FAAC to the LCDAs. The LCDAs were created by President Bola Tinubu during his time as governor of Lagos state.

The new bill seeks to recognise the 20 Local Government Areas (LGAs) in the state as outlined in the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. It will reverse the existing LCDA as Area Administrative Offices to enhance local governance efficiency the 37 Area Administrative Councils will now serve under the 20 LGAs, managed by Area Administrative Secretaries appointed by the Governor.

Consequently, LASIEC will conduct elections into the 20 constitutionally recognized LGAs while the House will repeal the Local Government Administration Law 2015 and its 2016 Amendment. Speaker of the House, Mudashiru Obasa, sees the bill as a significant step in optimizing local governance, addressing tenure and separation of powers within LGAs for greater accountability.

This move has, however, not gone down well with powerful political structures in Lagos who want the leadership in the State to instead complete the process of legalising what has been done by ensuring that the LCDAs are included in the constitution. Their creation had followed all necessary processes until President Obasanjo refused to recognise them. The creation of the Local Government was described by the Supreme Court as inchoate.

This has created a division in the Lagos polity. A group that includes the 57 chairmen of local governments and the LCDAs, members of the Governor’s Advisory Council (GAC), and the Conference of Political Parties (CUPP) wants the process legitimised. Another group says that the question of the scrapping of the LCDA does not arise in the eyes of the law to start with; the LCDAs were a creation of the State Government, which does not have powers to create any level of government. Local government under the Constitution in Sections 7 and 8 thereof is vested in the National Assembly; the State Government has no power to create any additional local government apart from the one already created by the Constitution. Therefore, the LCDAs are illegal entities.

How the Governors Plot Against LG Autonomy
The subsisting law states that the monies for LGAs will be paid by FG into a joint account of the State and its LGAs controlled by the state. This law as enshrined in the constitution is yet to be amended. This is where the governors would hang on to keep controlling the resources of the local governments. The Supreme Court judgement is sound and logical, but its practicability remains a challenge.

Senator Tony Okechukwu Nwoye of Anambra North recently raised a motion in the Senate against certain proposed bills by state governments. These bills seek to require LGAs to deposit a portion of their federal allocations into a centralized account controlled by the state. Though his motion did not succeed, it pointed attention to the nature of the new challenge the judgment had birthed.

He suggested that the Accountant General halt payments to states that interfere with the financial independence of local governments. Additionally, he recommended that the EFCC and ICPC enhance their oversight of local government funds to ensure these resources are deposited directly into the accounts of local governments, without being redirected to accounts managed by state governments.

State governments have exercised considerable control over LGA’s finances through joint state-local government accounts, as stipulated in Section 162 (6) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (CFRN). However, this provision has often been manipulated, with some governors allegedly diverting LGA funds, effectively starving local councils of the resources they need to function independently.

A Way Forward
According to Senator Nwoye, strengthening the oversight of the EFCC and ICPC could help ensure that resources meant for local governance are used effectively and reach the communities they are intended to support. But the problem is bigger than what those institutions could solve alone.

Good governance has been elusive at the local government level because of the tight control and strong influence the state governors wield over local government administrations in their states. The governors are like emperors in their states with the State House of Assembly playing a subservient role. He specifically said Governor Soludo should be called to order. He’s trying to bring back the joint account through the back door, and, unfortunately, the House of Assembly is backing such abnormalities.

The Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Dr. Musa Adamu Aliyu, SAN, recently said the Commission will not hesitate to act against any official or individual who defies the Supreme Court’s ruling on local government autonomy. The ICPC says it is prepared to act against anyone who goes against the Supreme Court’s decision on local government autonomy,”

The National Assembly has on its table the establishment of an independent electoral commission to conduct elections at that tier of government. That will go a long way in having a reasonably free, fair, and credible election at the local government level. If multiple parties win elections at that level, it will be difficult for the governor to dictate and control what happens to the funds at the local government level.