Dr. Ben Nwoye, the immediate past chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Enugu State, has praised the Supreme Court’s ruling on local government autonomy in Nigeria.
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He described the judgment as a decisive end to the long-standing illegality practiced by some state governors.
The Supreme Court recently declared it illegal and unconstitutional for state governors to control how local government funds are spent.
The court also ordered the federal government to cease sending funds to non-democratically elected council chairmen.
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Reacting to the landmark judgment, Dr. Nwoye commended the Supreme Court for its bold stance and lauded the courage of Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi.
He remarked, “I salute the bravery of Attorney-General Fagbemi. It’s astonishing that this anomaly persisted for over 24 years. Our Attorney-General rightly confronted the illegality perpetuated by democratically elected governors who violated the basic principles of democracy.”
Dr. Nwoye highlighted how some governors routinely dissolved democratically elected local government chairmen and reduced them to mere appendages of their state governments.
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“This obliterated the third tier of government as recognized by the Nigerian constitution,” he added.
Emphasizing the significance of the judgment, the APC chieftain said, “the Supreme Court has proven itself as the last hope of the common man. The judgment ensures that local government chairmen and their councillors will now be directly accountable to the people, eliminating excuses and unaccountable caretaker chairmen.”
He pointed out that the judgment mandates that states without elected local government chairmen will have their allocations withheld until democratic elections are conducted.
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“This will trigger development in local governments,” he asserted.
Addressing calls for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct local government elections, Dr. Nwoye disagreed.
He argued that the issue is not about who conducts the elections but ensuring fairness. “INEC hasn’t performed well either. We need to support and grow state institutions to conduct fair elections. Corruption exists at all levels, and we should focus on ending corrupt practices,” he said.
Dr. Nwoye criticized the performance of some professors in electoral processes and emphasized the need to empower institutions and individuals to conduct free and fair elections.
“Talking about INEC taking over state-level elections overlooks the need to empower state institutions and ensure their integrity,” he stated.
He also commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for supporting the revolutionary suit, which he believes will bring unprecedented development to rural areas.
