Amaechi Mistakes of the Supreme Court, the Tinubu Government about LG Autonomy

The former Minister of Transportation and the former Governor of the State Rivers, Rotimi Amaechi, has blamed the Tinubu Bola Administration and the Nigerian Supreme Court for a decision that provided financial autonomy to the regional government in Nigeria.

However, he stated that the proposal of the constitutional amendment that gave financial autonomy to LGA, would be part of his priority if he had been a President of Nigeria.

Speaking on Saturday during the conversation X Spaces, Amaechii said any change, such as LGA’s direct funding, must be done through the appropriate amendment of the constitution by the National Assembly and not the Supreme Court.

In July 2024, the Supreme Court decided that the federal government had to pay direct allocation to LGA and prohibit the state governor from appointing a caregiver committee to run the council.

The High Court also directed the federal government to hold funds from LGA led by the chairman of the guard.

Lateef Fagbemi, Attorney General Federation, has described the decision as a decisive step in freeing the local government system “from the shackles of the past”.

But former Governor Rivers criticized the Supreme Court’s decision, describing it as a disability and insisted that a significant amendment to the constitution would be a necessity if he served.

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He stated: “I will change the constitution. I will go for a constitutional amendment. The decision by the Supreme Court is wrong. I will not go to the Supreme Court. I will not follow the Path of the Tinubu government,” he said.

“There will be a very large constitutional amendment if I win, where we will discuss everything about Nigeria.

“We will sit with all the important people to discuss Nigeria, including regional government administration. If I am in power, there will be an independent local government authority but that will be carried out with constitutional amendments.

“The constitution said that local government funds went to the Committee for the Joint Account Allocation (JAAC). Part of the constitution was not changed, that’s why I said the Supreme Court was wrong.”

Amaechi also promised to overhaul the electoral system for LGA by creating a truly independent election commission “that is not related to the governor’s apron string.

“I will not be part of those who want to hijack the State Independent Election Commission. Part of the constitutional amendment is to create an independent election commission that is not appointed by the Governor,” he added.

“Part of the amendment is that the term of office of local government will be three to four years. When the term of office ends, the governor will not call for elections, the state independent election commission will call for elections.”