….Faults Tinubu over FG’s suit against 36 States at Supreme Court.
By: Our reporter
The Pan Yoruba Socio-political group, Afenifere has advocated the removal of 774 local governments from the 1999 constitution as amended to enable State governments operate the third tier of the government themselves.
The Yoruba group, which made the call in a Communique issued at the end of the National Caucus of Afenifere held at the Lagos Residence of the Leader, Chief Ayo Adebanjo, said President Bola Tinubu had not shown commitment to restructuring the country since he assumed office last year.
Afenifere in the communique signed by the group’s National Publicity Secretary, Prince Justice Faloye, faulted the suit instituted by the federal government against the 36 states at the supreme court on the local government autonomy as a mere distraction which would not yield positive result without amending certain sections of the 1999 Constitution.
“Afenifere insists that the only solution to this staggering injustice is to delete the list of Local Governments in the constitution and allow states to
have their local governments as recommended by the 2014 National
Conference and the 2018 El-Rufai Committee on Federalism as part of the holistic restructuring of the Nigerian Federation. The Time is Now
Below is the full text of the Communique;
BEING THE COMMUNIQUE AT THE END OF THE NATIONAL CAUCUS OF AFENIFERE HELD ON TUESDAY, 11TH JUNE 2024 AT THE LAGOS RESIDENCE OF THE LEADER, CHIEF AYO ADEBANJO
1.0 INTRODUCTION: 2.0
Afenifere held a SpecialMeeting of its National Caucus on Tuesday 11th June 2024 at the Lagos Residence of the Leader, Chief Ayo Adebanjo and after an exhaustive deliberations on the state of the Nation and particularly the suit of the Federal Government on Local Government Autonomy and its implications for the restructuring of the federation observed and Resolved as follows:
- That without prejudice to the suit pending at the Supreme Court Afenifere views the position of the Federal on Local Government autonomy as diversionary, hypocritical and playing to the gallery without deep reflection on its implications for a true federal Nigeria. It is a clear demonstration of lack of political will to restructure the Nigerian Federation.
- That the suit rather diminishes President Tinubu’s claims on federalism and casts him in the image of his predecessors who erroneously perceived the President or the Federal Government as a leviathan at whose feet the federating states must capitulate.
- Afenifere recalled that by letter Pres/87 dated 10th April 2004 to the Minister of Finance titled “Local Government Elections and Allocation of Funds from the Federation Account to LGAs” President Obasanjo wrote interalia: ”Available information indicates that some States namely Ebonyi, Katsina, Lagos, Nasarawa and Niger conducted the last Local Government election in the new Local Government Areas created by their respective State Assemblies”. “As the National Assembly is yet to make the necessary consequential provisions in respect of any of the newly created Local Government Areas in the country, conducting election into or funding any of them from the Federation Account would clearly be a violation of the Constitution. Consequently, no allocation from the Federation Accountshould henceforth be released to the Local Government Councils of the above-mentioned
States and any other State that may fall into that category, until they revert to their constituent Local Government Areas specified in Part I of the First Schedule to the Constitution”. - That Lagos State was thus used as the scapegoat in the above regards
by which the funds due to its Local Councils from the Federation Account
were withheld by the Federal Government, which act the Supreme Court subsequently dismissed as illegal and unconstitutional. - That President Muhammad Buhari claiming to be acting pursuant to
Section 5 of the Constitution caused the release of financial guidelines by
the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) with effect from June 1,
2019 titled “NFIU Enforcement and Guidelines to reduce crime
vulnerabilities created by cash withdrawal from Local Government funds throughout Nigeria” by which the NFIU blocked access of state governors to local government council funds, especially accruals from the Federation Account, as a prelude to the signing of the controversial Executive Order 10, 2020”. - That the Executive Order 10 provides interalia that: “the Accountant-General of the Federation shall by this order and such other orders, regulations or guidelines as may be issued by the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, authorize the deduction
from source in the course of the Federal Accounts Allocation from the
money allocated to any state of the federation that fails to release
allocation meant for the state legislature and judiciary in line with
financial autonomy.” - That declaring the Executive Order unconstitutional in a suit filed by the
36 states, the Supreme Court unequivocally reminded President Buhari that “this country is still a federation and the 1999 Constitution it operates is a federal one. The Constitution provides a clear delineation of powersbetween the state and the “The President has overstepped the limit of his
constitutional powers by issuing the Executive Order 10. The country is run
on the basis of the rule of law,”. - That President Tinubu by praying the Supreme Court for a declaration
“that in the face of the violations of the 1999 Constitution, the federal
government is not obligated under section 162 of the Constitution to pay
any State, funds standing to the credit of local governments where no
democratically elected local government is in place” is only urging the apex court to overrule itself on which same act of Obasanjo against Lagos State it declared illegal. - In a clear demonstration of his promise to continue where Buhari
stopped and copying his illegal Executive legislation Tinubu also now
prays the Supreme Court “to allow the credits to Local Governments to be
directly paid to them from the Federation Account and declare the Local Government joint account illegal. - Afenifere harbours no doubt that the Tinubu Presidency is not unaware
that this relief is of no moment without amendment of section 162 and
particularly subsection (6) which provides that “each state shall maintain a special account to be called “State Joint Local Government Account” into which shall be paid all allocations to the local government councils of the state from the Federation Account and from the Government of the state”. - Afenifere says without equivocation that it is through this JAC
account, created by the constitution, that the Local governments’ funds are
pooled for sundry joint services including payment of teachers salaries and administration of Local Councils Development Authority (LCDA) created by states, spearheaded by Tinubu as Governor of Lagos State and declared
inchoate by the Supreme Court.
12.That the Federal Government also knows that its prayer for “an order,
prohibiting state governors from unilateral, arbitrary and unlawfuldissolution of democratically elected LG leaders” is neither recondite nor without precedent as the apex court will only be blowing familiar mute trumpet having so ordered for the umpteenth time at the suits of Council Chairmen and Councilors to no avail.
- That as true as the payer of the piper dictating the tune, Council
officials know that they hold their offices only at the pleasure of governors and party leaders in a selection through the so-called State Independent Electoral commission and thus are bereft of legitimacy to defend nonexistent mandate to resist dissolution. - The prayer of the Federal Government for a declaration “that the
constitution of Nigeria recognises federal, states and local governments
as three tiers of government and that the three recognised tiers of
government draw funds for their operation and functioning from the
Federation Account created by the Constitution” is against established
tenet of federalism which recognises the central government and
federating units as the only two tiers and indeed inconsistent with Section
2 (2) of the same constitution which provides that “Nigeria shall be a
Federation consisting of States and a Federal Capital Territory”. - Afenifere believes that Local Government is the business of the
federating units and thus the listing and enshrinement in the constitution
of the 744 local Councils arbitrarily created by the military is antithetical to
the principles of federalism which is the negotiated founding covenants of
the Nigerian state. - Afenifere recognises several irreconcilable sections in the Nigerian
constitution which are anthetical to the principles of federalism as the
foundational covenant of the nation and democratic practices.
18.A cursory historical analysis of the Local Government system shows that
under the colonial Native Authorities system when councils were not
receiving money from the Federation Account nor the basis of revenue allocation, the north had 147 while the South had 215.
- When the military first introduced uniform Local Government system
with list of councils enshrined in the 1979 constitution, the North had 152
while the South was 150. - Now under the 1999 constitution, when Councils are funded from the
federation account, a basis of revenue allocation, delineation of electoral
wards, census enumeration areas, employment in federal government
ministries and parastatals and above all, delegates to political party
conventions for selecting presidential and other candidates, the North is 413
as against 355 for the South. - In 1979, the present South East had 44, while the North West was 53.
Today, the South East stands at 95, while the North West is 187. - In 1979 old Imo State (now Imo and Abia) 21 Councils. Kano (now
Kano and Jigawa) 20. Under the present 1999 constitution, the same old Imo now has a total of 44 (Abia 17, Imo 27). In contrast, the old Kano which had less than old Imo now has a total of 71 (Jigawa 27; Kano 44), a little less than all the 5 states of the South East which altogether have 95 Councils. - Within the South West, Ogun State created since 1976 has 20 Local
Governments compared with smaller Osun State, carved out of Oyo in 1991,
with comparatively lower population and smaller territorial size with 30
Local Governments. Ondo State also larger in size and population than Osun has 18. For no reason Bayelsa is awarded only (8). - Afenifere insists that the only solution to this staggering injustice is to delete the list of Local Governments in the constitution and allow states to
have their local governments as recommended by the 2014 National
Conference and the 2018 El-Rufai Committee on Federalism as part of the holistic restructuring of the Nigerian Federation. The Time is Now.
Chief Ayo Adebanjo
Leader.
Prince Justice Faloye
National Publicity Secretary.
