Tinubu
Tinubu expresses joy over Supreme Court granting financial autonomy to LGs
An elated President Bola Tinubu has praised the Supreme Court for granting thr 774 local governmentd in Nigeria autonomy.
The president said the ruling of the apex court will give Nigerians, especially the poor, the opportunity to hold their local leaders to account.
A statement by presidential spokesman, Ajuri Ngelale, stated that Tinubu said: “By virtue of this judgement, our people – especially the poor – will be able to hold their local leaders to account for their actions.
“What is sent to local government accounts will be known, and services must now be provided without excuses.
“My administration instituted this suit because of our unwavering belief that our people must have relief and today’s judgement will ensure that it will be only those local officials elected by the people that will control the resources of the people.
“This judgement stands as a resounding affirmation that we can use legitimate means of redress to restructure our country and restructure our economy to make Nigeria a better place to live in and a fairer society for all of our people.”
He said the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the constitutional rights and ideals of local governments as regards financial autonomy, and other salient principles, is significant and further reinforces the effort to enhance Nigeria’s true federal fabric for the development of the entire nation.
President Tinubu also commended the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), for his diligence and patriotic effort, describing the cases as an important assignment.
The Commander-in-Chief reiterated his administration’s commitment to protecting the principles of the charter governing citizens, institutions of government, arms, and tiers of government in furtherance of building an efficient and performance-driven governance system that works for every Nigerian.
Indeed, the Supreme Cpurt had on Thursday granted financial autonomy to the local governments, declaring that it is unconstitutional for state governors to hold onto funds meant for councils.
The Supreme Court’s ruling also devlared as unconstitutional for governors to create caretaker committees to replace democratically elected local government councils.
The apex court stated that such action would amount to a breach of the 1999 Constitution.
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