NEW LEASE FOR LOCAL GOVERNMENT? (1)

The Supreme Court ruling could do local council administration a lot of good

The 1999 constitution in its Fourth Schedule outlines the functions, duties and responsibilities of the local governments. Unfortunately, the same constitution is silent regarding any protective mechanism that guarantees their financial and political autonomy. There are also no clear-cut guidelines or timelines for electing officials nor is there any word about their tenure. Most of these crucial decisions were left at the whims of the state governors who effectively hijacked the local governments in their states, using their funds to dispense patronage to cronies. All that may change given Friday’s intervention by the Supreme Court.

In a landmark judgment on local government autonomy, the apex court in Nigeria has ruled that henceforth, allocations from the federation account are to be paid directly into individual local government account and no more through the State Local Government Joint Account. With that, the highest court in the country has nullified Section 162 (6) of the constitution which establishes the joint account into which monies due to the councils from the federation account are paid for onward disbursement to them by the states. The court also ruled that only democratically elected local government councils are eligible to receive federation account allocations. Reaffirming an earlier judgment, the Supreme Court orders that no governor (and/or House of Assembly) has the power to suspend or remove elected local government councils and/or to appoint unelected local government (caretaker) administrations.

Section 7 of the constitution states, “The system of local government by democratically elected local government councils is under this constitution guaranteed; and accordingly, the government of every state shall, subject to section 8 of this constitution, ensure their existence under a Law which provides for the establishment, structure, composition, finance and functions of such councils.” This provision has in the last 25 years of democratic rule been observed more in breach as many states have taken undue advantage of the powers granted them by the constitution to make laws for the establishment of the councils.

The situation has given rise to a cluster of unelected officials, tagged caretaker committees, appointed by state governors who run the councils in a clear violation of the express provision of the constitution. Even the few elected councils operate under such a stifling regulatory environment that they become unable to deliver on their mandate to the people at the grassroots since they are forced to pander to the wishes of their governors and legislators who often times act in self-interest.

But for more than two decades, the abuse of local governments by state governments has persisted. The abuse takes two significant forms: Refusal by many states to conduct elections into their councils and the theft of funds of the councils put in the care of the states for disbursement in accordance with the law. The states have habitually shortchanged the councils by disbursing only a fraction of the accruable funds and keeping the rest without regard to transparency and accountability. The effects of these have been chronic underdevelopment of the council areas which, castrated as they are, remain unable to deliver on their primary mandate of providing basic social infrastructure, including primary healthcare, primary education, feeder roads and modern markets, at the local levels. This no doubt accounts for the massive degradation at the grassroots, giving rise to social strife, including the rising propensity for insurgency in several parts of the country.

We are mindful of the fact that not everyone agrees with the position taken by the Supreme Court on local governments. There are also genuine concerns. One of the flaws of the current structure in Nigeria is the disproportionate distribution of powers and resources between the federal government and the states. By empowering the federal government to serve as prefect over local government allocations from the federation account, the Supreme Court has only further centralised powers in the country. But the blame goes to the governors. It is not an exaggeration to say that the abuse of the local council system by the states has created a lack of governance at the grassroots where the majority of Nigerians reside.

• To be concluded tomorrow