On Thursday, the Supreme Court set June 13 as the hearing date for a suit filed by the Federal Government against the 36 state governors regarding alleged mismanagement of local government affairs.
Justice Garba Lawal, leading a seven-man panel, issued the order while ruling on an application for abridgement of time. The application, argued by Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, sought to ensure timely filing and exchange of legal processes by all parties.
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The court mandated the governors to submit their defenses within seven days in response to the federal government’s suit advocating for full autonomy for the country’s 774 local governments.
This decision underscores the national urgency of the case, which has not faced opposition from the states’ attorneys general.
Furthermore, the Supreme Court instructed the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) to file his reply within two days upon receiving the governors’ defenses.
The court also ordered fresh hearing notices to be served to the eight states—Borno, Kano, Kogi, Niger, Ogun, Osun, Oyo, and Sokoto—whose attorneys general were absent during the proceedings.
The Federal Government, through Attorney General Lateef Fagbemi, filed the suit marked SC/CV/343/2024.
The suit seeks to end state governors’ alleged misconduct in handling local government affairs and to establish full autonomy for local governments as the third tier of government.
Fagbemi’s action aims to protect local governments from what he describes as gross abuse by state governors.
Among the 27 grounds cited, the suit emphasizes the constitutional mandate to uphold democratic governance at the local level.
The AGF is asking the court for orders to prohibit state governors from dissolving democratically elected local government councils and to ensure funds allocated to local governments are directly transferred to them from the federation account.
This move seeks to bypass the allegedly unlawful joint accounts managed by state governors.
Additionally, the suit requests the court to bar governors from appointing caretaker committees to manage local governments, which contravenes the constitutionally mandated democratic election process.
Fagbemi also seeks an injunction to prevent governors from using or interfering with local government funds when no democratically elected councils are in place.
In a supporting affidavit, Kelechi Ohaeri from the AGF’s office emphasized that the local government system recognized by the constitution must be a democratically elected body, and the funds from the federation account should be directed to such councils.
The case has been scheduled for a hearing on June 13, highlighting a pivotal moment in the ongoing struggle for local government autonomy in Nigeria.
