By Segun Ajayi

While many state governors waited with bated breath for Thursday,11 July Supreme Court ruling on full autonomy of local governments in Nigeria, one of them stood out,unperturbed by the development. For Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the suit  brought before the apex court seeking to strengthen the local government councils by granting them financial autonomy has only vindicated him In his state, local government councils are fully independent.

So, for Sanwo-Olu and his team, Justice Emmanuel Agim’s lead judgement that local government councils across the country must henceforth receive their allocations directly from the Accountant-General of the Federation was a revalidation of the norm in Lagos.

That judgement read: “It is the position of the court that the federation can pay local governments allocations directly to the local governments or through the states. In this case, since paying them through the states has not worked, justice demands that local governments allocations from the federation account should henceforth be paid directly to the local governments. I hold that the states’ retention of local government funds is unconstitutional”.

By following the noble trajectory of deepening local government council autonomy in Lagos, Sanwo-Olu again added another garland to his cap by fulfilling the ‘S’ leg of his T.H.E.M.E.S+. Letter ‘S’ represents the “Security and Good Governance”sector. For instance, you may want to  ask how successive administrations in the state have fostered good governance at the grassroots, if not by constituting the Local Government Areas democratically and granting them financial autonomy. Even the 10 per cent of Internall Generated Revenue, which the Constitution provides for local government councils, are not denied them in Lagos.

Unlike states where the councils are appendages of stategovernments, developmental programmes are palpable at the third tier of government in Lagos. From Eti Osa to Lagos Island, Bariga to Oshodi, Agege to Alimosho, Epe to Badagry just to mention a few, physical infrastructural projects and services are ongoing. Inner roads are being constructed, free health services are at people’s beck and call, primary health and civic centres and markets are being constructed, all thanks to full autonomy of local governments in the state.

Flashback to May this year, Sanwo-Olu had faulted the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi (SAN) over the propriety of the former to include Lagos State governor in a  Supreme Court suit seeking to compel governors of the 36 states of the federation to grant full autonomy to the local governments in their domains. The suit, marked SC/CV/343/2024, was filed by the AGF on behalf of the Federal Government.

In the suit, the Federal Government urged the apex court to issue “an order prohibiting state governors from unilateral, arbitrary and unlawful dissolution of democratically elected local government leaders for local governments”. In the suit predicted on 27 grounds, the Federal Government accused the state governors of gross misconduct and abuse of power.

Before the Supreme Court’s verdict, Sanwo-Olu spoke at the opening of a two-day conference on judicial reforms in Lagos this  May during which he described the inclusion of Lagos State in the Federal Government’s suit as a legal anomaly. According to him, local governments in Lagos had enjoyed full autonomy since the inception of this democratic dispensation. The governor while expressing his support for the FG noted the AGF should have identified governors who refused to complywith the constitution before filing a blanket lawsuit against all states. For Sanwo-Olu, some governors ploy to emasculate local government administrations through the Joint Allocation Commitee (JAC) and arbitrary imposition of caretaker chairmen amounted to affront to the spirit of the constitution to which the judiciary must make a clear interpretation for equity and fairness. He said a better justice system would protect the interests of parties and discourage actions limiting efficiency of the third tier of government. By these statements, Sanwo-Olu exuded the confidence of a chief executive free from the shenanigans of abuse of privileges as alledged by the AGF.

Apparently, the Lagos helmsman in principle was not in sync with governors who hitherto challenged Executive Order 10 by the then President Muhammadu Buhari, which granted financial autonomy to the state judiciary, legislature, and local government councils. By the order, the Accountant General of the Federation was to pay the allocations of state judicial, legislative arms, and the 774 local governments their Federation Account Allocation Committee’s allocations directly. Perceptibly, Buhari’s resort to executive order was a desperate move prompted by the failure of a bill by the National Assembly aimed at granting full autonomy to the state judiciary and local governments. The bill was passed by the National Assembly through but got stuck with the state assemblies which assents were required for it to become a law.

In September 2020, the governors exploited the lacuna crested by the state assemblies refusal to assent to the NASS bill by approaching the Supreme Court to seek judicial interpretation of Section 120 (4, 5,6) of the constitution. The apex court inFebruary 2022 in a split decision ruled in favour of the governors.

The matter have been finally laid to rest following Thursday, 11 July ruling. And until another act of Parliament does the contrary, the apex court decision stays.