By Mark Lenu
Rural dwellers in Rivers State have hailed the judgment of the Supreme Court which declared financial autonomy for local government administration. The rural dwellers who reside in some remote communities across several LGAs of the state, said local government administrators have used scarcity of funds as an excuse not to bring development to their respective LGAs.
The Dwellers told our correspondent that they can now hold their respective LG chairmen accountable if their council bosses fail to judiciously appropriate funds meant for their LGAs. Their reaction came after the Supreme Court declared on Thursday that it is unconstitutional for state governors to hold funds allocated for local government administrations.
Also Read: Supreme Court Grants Financial Autonomy to 774 Local Governments
The seven-man panel, in the judgment delivered by Justice Emmanuel Agim, declared that the 774 local government councils in the country should manage their funds themselves. The apex court held that the power of the government is portioned into three tiers of government which are the federal, the state, and the local governments.
The court further declared that a state government has no power to appoint a caretaker committee and a local government council is only recognisable with a democratically elected government. The judgment held that the use of a caretaker committee amounts to the state government taking control of the local government and it is in violation of the 1999 Constitution as amended.
The court stated that it is the local government that should receive and manage funds meant for local government. The judgment held that the local government council funds must be paid to only democratically elected local government councils, stating that “anything other than this will be taken as a gross misconduct.”
