By Ayo Kehinde
Governor Chukwuma Soludo of Anambra State has flouted the Supreme Court ruling that granting full autonomy to Nigeria’s 774 local government areas by signing into law a contradictory bill.
Arguing against the import of the apex court ruling that supports direct federal allocation to LGAs, Governor Soludo on Tuesday at the Governor’s Lodge in Amawbia, Awka, after signing the Anambra State Local Government Administration Law, titled “Anambra Local Government Administration Law 2024″, said the apex court ruling would create chaos in LGA administration in the county
The law was passed by the State House of Assembly last Thursday.
Soludo argued that absolute autonomy for local government areas is impossible and would create chaos due to the attendant challenges.
He said that Section 7 of the constitution empowers state governments to enact laws for local government administration, highlighting the importance of state oversight.
He said, “The absolute autonomy to the 774 local government areas in the country is an impossibility, in fact, it is a recipe for humongous chaos. The attendant challenges before the issue of local government autonomy are such that would certainly deepen the fate of the system and spell doom for the expected beneficiaries of the process if not well planned.”
Soludo, however, explained that the new laws are consequential to the Supreme Court judgment and not intended to undermine it.
According to him, “The new laws by Anambra House of Assembly are therefore consequential to give operational life to the Supreme Court judgment and not to undermine it. If the State House of Assembly abdicates this constitutional duty, the Local Government will then have no law on the use and management of its finance.”
The bill requires local government areas (LGAs) to remit a portion of their federal allocations into a consolidated account controlled by the state.
Section 13(1) of the bill stipulates that the state shall maintain a “State Joint Local Government Account” into which all federal allocations to LGAs must be deposited. Section 14(3) of it mandates that each LGA must remit a state-determined percentage to the consolidated account within two working days of receiving their allocations.
Section 14(4) outlines that if the state receives the LGA’s allocation on their behalf, it must deduct the specified percentage before disbursing the remaining funds to the LGA.
Only a fortnight ago federal lawmakers from the state, namely Reps Victor Ogene and Senator Tony Nwoye protested against the bill and last week took further steps by moving a motion in the National Assembly in support of their action. In tow was Senator Osita Isinazo from Imo State, whose governor, Hope Uzodinma got newly elected LGA chairpersons to sign resignation letters before they were sworn into office as a check on their powers.
President of the Senate, Goodwill Akpabio alongside majority of Senators seconded the Nwoye and Isinazo’ s motion and set the machinery in motion to amend sections of the Constitution dealing with State Local Government Joint Account to align with the Supreme Court ruling.
