Governors Make New Moves to Postpone LG Autonomy Implementation

State governors lobby to delay enforcement of Supreme Court ruling on local government autonomy as the Federal Government prepares to take action

Ahead of the scheduled submission of a report by the inter-ministerial committee on the Supreme Court’s ruling regarding local government autonomy implementation, state governors have launched fresh efforts to delay its enforcement. The committee, headed by Secretary to the Government of the Federation George Akume, is expected to deliver its findings by mid-October.

In 2019, the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) mandated that funds be sent directly to local government accounts, effectively barring state governments from controlling these resources. However, governors, under the umbrella of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, resisted this regulation. More recently, a Supreme Court judgment reaffirmed the financial autonomy of all 774 local governments, ordering that funds be paid directly to their accounts.

Despite this ruling, governors are lobbying to stall local government autonomy implementation, even as the federal government pushes forward. The National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) and civil society groups have urged swift action to uphold the autonomy ruling, calling the governors’ interference self-serving.

The Supreme Court’s ruling has been widely seen as a victory for local governance, yet the efforts by state governors to hinder local government autonomy implementation could stall the benefits intended for grassroots governance.