While Prof. Mike Ozekhome, SAN, described Thursday’s Supreme Court Judgment on local government autonomy as “epochal,” Ex- Chair of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Prof. Chidi Anselm Odinkalu maintained that the issue of local government accounts are more complex than people think it is.
Odinkalu spoke during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today.
Also Prof. R.A.C.E Achara questions what happens to the explicit provisions of the constitution on the joint account.
Ozekhome had in his Thursday article, Hailing the Supreme Court on LG allocation judgment held that the verdict has “far-reaching effect because money will now be made available directly to the local government areas who will no longer be subservient, like fawning slaves to state governors. In fact, the judgement even went further to say that no state government has the power henceforth to dissolve local government areas.
“This is because we have been seeing cases where in spite of the provisions of section 7 of the 1999 constitution that give autonomy to local government areas, states normally go ahead and dissolve local government areas ND appoint caretaker committees for them. This is whimsical and capricious. The Supreme Court has said this can no longer go on and that henceforth, no state government should ever be able to dissolve any local government area in Nigeria for any reason whatsoever and howsoever.”
Prof. Achara however puts it this way. “
“Sentiment as judgment? What happens to the explicit provisions of the constitution on the joint account? Constitutionalism is an attitude of mind. Fidelity to the rule of law demands respect to the constitution and thus the law, until such a time as they are amended by the strict regimen of law!
“Unless one of these recent alterations to the constitution has removed the constitutional prescription for payment of all federation monies due to LGAs through the State-LG joint account, this SC decision would be an unfortunate dent on our journey towards a proper attitude of constitutionalism in Nigeria.”
Odinkalu in the video below shares his thoughts.
