Stakeholders have called on the Federal Government to take decisive steps to ensure full compliance by state governments with the recent Supreme Court ruling granting financial autonomy to local governments across the federation.
The call was made during a National Dialogue on Local Government Autonomy held in Abuja and organized by the Change We Need Nigeria Initiative. The dialogue brought together a broad range of participants, including serving and former local government chairmen, civil society organisations, union leaders, and policy advocates.
The central theme of the dialogue was to promote the full operational autonomy of local governments in order to enhance grassroots development, democratic governance, and service delivery.
NULGE: Autonomy Will Strengthen Grassroots Democracy
The National Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE), Comrade Aliyu Haruna Kankara, represented by the union’s National Organizing Secretary, Comrade Olamisoji Tolulope, stressed that full implementation of the Supreme Court ruling would significantly transform governance at the grassroots level.
“We call for sincere implementation of the Supreme Court judgment to enable Nigerians at the local level enjoy the real dividends of democracy,” he said.
Audu: Functional Local Governments Will Ease Pressure on States, FG
Also speaking, former Chairman of the Abuja Municipal Area Council, Ambassador Esther Audu, said empowering local governments would help reduce the growing administrative burden on state and federal governments.
She commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, for their commitment to grassroots development and ongoing efforts to enforce local government autonomy.
Ilechukwu: Grassroots Development Is Key to National Progress
Convener of the event and General Overseer of the Charismatic Renewal Ministries, Dr. Cosmos Ilechukwu, described the dialogue as timely and critical to advancing national development.
“Development must begin from the grassroots. It includes clean water, rural electrification, quality education, security, and infrastructure. Without an empowered local government system, national progress is impossible,” said Ilechukwu, who also serves as Deputy President of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN).
He applauded the Supreme Court’s ruling in favor of local government autonomy, urging both federal and state governments to enforce it in the spirit of true democracy and nation-building.
Call for Reforms on Joint Accounts and Tenure Security
Participants at the dialogue unanimously condemned the continued use of joint local government accounts, a practice they argued has crippled the financial independence of councils and undermined service delivery.
They also emphasized the need to guarantee the tenure of democratically elected local councils, advocating for a minimum of four years in office and direct access to federal allocations, in line with the Supreme Court’s decision.
Next Steps
Stakeholders concluded that unless the federal government takes urgent steps to enforce the ruling, including setting up monitoring frameworks and holding non-compliant state governments accountable, the potential benefits of local government autonomy will remain unrealized.
They called for sustained advocacy, legal reforms, and civic engagement to ensure that local governments function as the third tier of government, with full financial and administrative independence.
