‘Judicial conspiracy’ – Afenifere blames Supreme Court ruling on local council autonomy

Pan-Yoruba socio-political association, Afenifere, on Saturday, condemned the Supreme Court ruling granting financial autonomy to local councils in the country.

The top court on Thursday granted total autonomy to 774 local councils in Nigeria.

The Supreme Court in its ruling on a suit filed by the Federal Government held that the action of state governors in withholding funds budgeted for local government administration in the country was unconstitutional.

The court ruled that the federal government must pay the sums held in local council accounts in the Federation Account directly to local councils run by democratically elected officials.

However, in a statement signed by its leader, Chief Ayo Adebanjo, and National Public Secretary, Prince Justice Faloye, Afenifere described the decision as a mere legal conspiracy.

The group stressed that the Supreme Court had played to the gallery by delivering a decision that was contrary to the principles of true federalism.

It is alleged that President Bola Tinubu’s government has practiced a unitary system in several of its policies since taking office in May last year.

The statement read: “Afenifere views the Supreme Court judgment in the case filed by the Federal Government on the so-called local government autonomy as a mere judicial conspiracy in cahoots with the Tinubu administration against the Nigerian nation and its fundamental principles of federalism.

READ ALSO: Your economic policies are making Nigerians poor, Afenifere tells Tinubu

“Rather than interpreting the Constitution to uphold the fundamental but overriding federal principle that recognizes only a two-tier federal structure of a united central and state government, the Supreme Court toyed with the notion and deliberately allowed itself to make the highly retrograde statement that the powers of government are divided into three branches of government, federal, state, and local.

“For the avoidance of doubt, Afenifere boldly states that in line with its negotiated basis of existence, Nigeria is a ‘Federation comprising States and a Federal Capital Territory’, as affirmed by Section 2 (2) of the 1999 constitution.

“While Afenifere disapproves of corruption and misuse of public funds at all levels of government, it strongly condemns the subordination of states and their constitutional roles, including the local government system, to the whims and fancies of the federal government by any means, including the obvious manipulation of the federation’s accounts as in this case.

“It has become abundantly clear that with just over a year since its inauguration, the Tinubu administration, even more than the military administration, is singularly determined to unite the Nigerian Federation.

“Part of the package is the creation of the Ministry of Livestock Development which is a bold euphemism for the reintroduction of cattle colonies, RUGA and other policies used by the Buhari administration to take over land in the state contrary to the provisions of the Land Use Act and the Constitution which vests land in the state in the governors as a mandate for the people.”

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