The utterance of the Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, over the Supreme Court ruling, which ruled in favour of the Local Government (LG), has sparked a lot of controversy among nitizens on social media.
Governor Makinde, who had an emergency meeting with stakeholders in Ibadan, Oyo State on Monday, challenged the Supreme Court decision that granted all LGs within the country financial autonomy, stating that the Federal Government is not constitutionally superior to the state government and he highlighted the implications of the Supreme Court decision.
He said, “Oyo State will get out of this even stronger. We are people that know what is good for our people. We can run our own affairs. The federal Government is not superior constitutionally to the state government. Well, they have more resources than the state government, but the jurisdiction is coordinated. So, we can do what is right in Oyo State, and we’ve been doing what is right in Oyo State.”
However, he said that the Supreme Court decision declared last week has created a space between judicial and constitutional provisions.
While speaking, he recalled how his administration was able to pay debts held by the LG as of when he assumed power in 2019, for which he started the payments from 2017 to 2023, ranging from pensions, unpaid salaries, and gratuities owed primary school teachers from 2017.
In reviewing the implication of the court decision, he announced the establishment of technical and legal committee.
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Nitizens Reactions
Some X users reacted to governors Makinde utterance, asked that he should reframe from the court decision as they take a stand with the Supreme Court ruling on LG financial autonomy.
An X user, Oladosu Oladayo, said, “Oyo, you people should warn your governor; why is he the only governor in Nigeria openly against the LG Autonomy?. People like Seyi Makinde are the reason why Nigeria will never be a better country. LG Autonomy will allow development to get to our villages, not everyone based in the cities.”
Another user, Abiola, said, “And what exactly is Seyi Makinde speaking up for here? That Supreme Court judgement should not be obeyed. He needs to understand that the Supreme Court is not the same as FG and that FG did not win the case for itself; it won it for the LGs.
while other users took a stand with Governor Makinde, stating that “if people can’t hear Seyi, they can’t read ni.” Seyi Makinde is not saying LG autonomy is wrong. He is just saying that this is not the next thing. He never hid his reservation right from time though.”
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