Below are highlights of the Supreme Court’s leading judgment delivered by Hon. Justice Emmanuel A. Agim.
- A DECLARATION that the 36 States of Nigeria, or anyone of them, acting through their/its respective State Governors and or State House of Assembly, are/ls under obligation to ensure democratic governance at the third tier of government in Nigeria, namely, at the Local Government level.
2. A DECLARATION that the 36 States of Nigeria, acting through their/its respective States Governors and or State Houses of Assembly, cannot, using state power derivable from Laws enacted by the State Houses of Assembly (any how so called) or Executive Orders/other actions (any how so called) lawfully dissolve democratically-elected Local Government Councils within the said States/State.
3. A DECLARATION that the 36 States of Nigeria, acting through their respective State Governors and or State Houses of Assembly, using state powers derivable from Laws enacted by the State Houses of Assembly (anyhow so called) or executive Orders/other actions (anyhow so called), have no power to dissolve any of the democratically-elected Local . Government Councils within the said States/State and replace them/it with Caretaker Committees (any how so. called)
4. A DECLARATION that the dissolution of democratically elected Local Government Councils by the 36 States of Nigeria, or anyone of them, using state powers derivable from laws enacted by the State Houses of Assembly (any how so called) or Executive Orders/other actions (any how so called), is unlawful, unconstitutional, null and void.
5. A declaration that a State Government or the Governor of a State has no power to constitute, appoint or determine a local government that S.7(1) of the 1999 Constitution has prescribed can only be by Local government councils democratically elected by persons in a local government area.
6. A DECLARATION that the amount distributed to and standing. to the credit of Local Government Councils in the Federation Account can be paid by the Federation directly to democratically elected Local Government Councils.
7. A DECLARATION that the amount distributed to and standing to the credit of a Local Government Councils in the Federation Account must be paid by the Federation to only democratically elected Local Government Councils and no other body or institution.
8. A DECLARATION that any of the elected or other officials of the 36 States of Nigeria, who, through the instrumentality of either a State law or an administrative directive/order, dissolves or causes the dissolution of any of the democratically-elected Local Government Councils of their/its States has gravely breached the provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended); hence by that token has committed a gross misconduct.
9. A DECLARATION that, by virtue of S.162 (3) and (5) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, the amount standing to the credit of Local Government Councils in the Federation account shall be distributed to them and be paid directly to them.
10. A DECLARATION that a State either by itself or its Governor or other agencies has no power to keep, control, manage, or disburse in any manner allocations from the Federation Account to Local Government Councils.
11. A DECLARATION that the current practice of States keeping, controlling, managing and disbursing Local Government allocations from Federation Account is unconstitutional and
if legal.
12. A DECLARATION that a Local Government Council is entitled to a direct payment from the Federation account of the amount standing to its credit in the said Federation account.
13. AN ORDER of injunction restraining the Defendants, by themselves, their privies, agents, officials or howsoever called from further collecting, receiving, spending or tampering with local government council funds from the Federation Account for the benefit of local government Councils.
14. AN ORDER that the Federation or Federal Government of Nigeria through its relevant officials forthwith commence the direct payment to each Local Government Council of the amount standing to the credit of each of them in the Federation account.
15. AN ORDER OF IMMEDIATECOMPLIANCE by the States, through their elected or appointed officials and public officers, with the terms of this judgment and orders made in this Suit; and successive compliance by successive State Government officials and public officers.
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Agims-Judgment1
