The Senate has expressed alignment with the Supreme Court judgment of July 11, 2024, which granted financial autonomy to the 774 Local Government Areas across the country.
It faulted moves by some governors to enact laws to mandate the local government councils in their states to remit allocations into a joint account.
The Anambra State House of Assembly passed the Local Government Administration Bill 2024 on Tuesday, amid condemnation from civil society groups and opposition parties, including Labour Party lawmakers in the assembly.
They alleged that the bill was an attempt by Governor Chukwuma Soludo to arm-twist the council chairmen into paying their federal allocation back to the state.
Reports indicate that some other state houses of assembly have also enacted bills regarding local government administration.
On Wednesday at the plenary, the Red Chamber urged all three tiers of government to fully comply with the judgment and resolved to collaborate with the House of Representatives to amend certain provisions of the 1999 Constitution to ensure full implementation.
The resolutions followed motions sponsored by the Deputy President of the Senate, Jibrin Barau, and seconded by Abdul Ningi and Tahir Monguno.
Barau said, “I stand to move on behalf of this Senate for the approval of two prayers in respect of the motion that was brought by Tony Nwoye (Anambra North), thereby discarding the earlier prayers in the motion as sponsored by the mover.
“The two prayers are as follows: all states and local governments must fully comply with the recent Supreme Court judgment on the disbursement of and utilisation of funds accruing to all local governments in Nigeria.
“That the Senate ensures alterations to the relevant provisions of the constitution to provide for the full autonomy of the local governments in Nigeria.”
However, the resolutions came two hours after it faced challenges regarding the enforceability of the Supreme Court judgment at the state and local government levels.
At the commencement of the plenary, Nwoye (LP, Anambra North) invoked Senate Standing Orders 41 and 51 to raise a motion about alleged moves by some state governments to circumvent the judgment by passing counter-laws through their respective Houses of Assembly.
Nwoye, who informed the Senate that nine other senators co-sponsored the motion, specifically alleged that some governors were enacting laws to mandate local government councils in their states to remit funds into the State/Local Government Joint Account, which had been ruled against by the Supreme Court.
After Nwoye’s presentation, which included six prayers for enforcing the judgment and was seconded by Osita Izunaso (APC, Imo West), Adamu Aliero (PDP, Kebbi Central) raised a constitutional point of order to stop the debate on the motion.
Citing Section 287 of the 1999 Constitution, which makes Supreme Court judgments enforceable nationwide, Aliero urged the Senate not to “over-flog” the issue.
He said, “The Supreme Court judgement is enforceable across the country. There is no need for us to debate anything that has to do with it here.”
In agreement with Aliero, the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, highlighted Section 162, Subsection 6 of the 1999 Constitution, which created the State/Local Government Joint Account.
He noted that the provision must be amended to allow for the full implementation of the Supreme Court judgment.
Before a final decision could be made on the motion, Nwoye invoked Order 42 of the Senate Standing Rules for a personal explanation.
Abdulrahman Kawu Summaila (NNPP, Kano South) raised a similar point of order.
The simultaneous motions led to confusion, prompting many senators to consult with the Senate President, resulting in an emergency closed-door session at 12:46 pm.
The emergency session, which lasted nearly two hours, adopted the two separate motions moved by the Deputy President of the Senate.
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