AGF debunks three months grace on enforcement of LG autonomy

Says Anambra, others can’t rewrite S’Court’s judgment
Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, has declared that nobody gave 36 state governments three months moratorium before the implementation of the Supreme Court’s judgment on the autonomy of local governments.

Fagbemi, who spoke with newsmen in Ado Ekiti yesterday during the 12th convocation of Afe Babalola University Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD), said the implementation of the judgment remained sacrosanct, adding, however, that there were some things that must be put in place before the full implementation, so that it would not run into problems.

Fagbemi was honoured with an honorary doctorate degree at the event. He said there was no going back on the implementation of the judgment for the 774 local councils to be given financial autonomy to ensure development at the grassroots level.

He warned states not to commit contempt of court by disobeying the verdict of the Supreme Court, adding that the administration of President Bola Tinubu was determined to ensure all duly constituted and elected local council administrators received their allocations directly from the federation account.

Fagbemi said: “Unfortunately I know it has been in the media that they gave them (governors) three months’ moratorium, which is not the position. The position is that yes, the judgment was delivered, but we feel there is a need to put some things in place before the full implementation.

That it is going to be implemented is sacrosanct, nobody can run away from it.

“The question is, there are some things we need to put in place such that we will not run into problems when we start the full implementation of the judgment of the Supreme Court. There is no moratorium.”

MEANWHILE, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, yesterday, reiterated the determination of the parliament to grant full and operational autonomy to the local councils.

He also said the reform of the judiciary was on the priority list to enhance their independence, efficiency and accountability.

Abbas gave the assurance in Abuja while delivering a keynote address at the ‘Learning, Dissemination and Inception’ event organised by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office (FCDO) in collaboration with Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre (PLAC) and Partnership to Engage, Reform, and Learn (PERL) project, with the theme, ‘From PERL to PACE: Learning to Sustain Democratic Governance in Nigeria’.

He said the reforms were outlined in the 10th Legislative Agenda of the House.

Represented by the Deputy Speaker, Benjamin Kalu, Abbas said the engagement offered a good opportunity to reflect and evaluate the critical lessons learned from the FCDO’s interventions, which, he said, had played an instrumental role in advancing democracy and governance in Nigeria, particularly within the Legislature.