LG Autonomy: CLO Hails Supreme Court judgment

The Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO has welcomed the Supreme Court’s judgment affirming fiscal autonomy for local government councils across Nigeria.

In a joint statement released on Friday, the South South Zone and the Rivers state branch of the CLO, the ruling was described as “a win for the people of Nigeria” and a step in the right direction.
The Supreme Court’s decision overturns the previous practice of consolidating local council revenues into state government accounts.
The CLO statement signed by Styvn Obodoekwe, Zonal Director and Barr. Anayo Peter Uwabuike, Interim State Chairman, lamented the earlier arrangement, stating that it was borne out of politics of hasty compromise.
Expressing it's support for the ruling, the human rights group said, “We align with the decision of the Supreme Court that the structure of the Nigerian government is portioned in three layers, and of these, the local governments should be centres of development.”
On Thursday, the Supreme Court declared that it is unconstitutional for state governors to hold funds allocated for local government administrations.

The seven-man panel, in the judgment delivered by Justice Emmanuel Agim, declared that the 774 local government councils in the country should manage their funds themselves.

The apex court held that the power of the government is portioned into three arms of government, the federal, the state and the local government.

The court further declared that a state government has no power to appoint a caretaker committee and a local government council is only recognisable with a democratically elected government.

However, the CLO wants to state clearly that LGAs should begin to produce budgets as required by law and should begin to make their annual budgets open, participatory and accessible to the public. The era of toying with LGA funds should be over and should no longer be tolerated. This is a foundation for accountability in managing LGA funds.

Everyone hailing the supreme court judgement, but the agulu fraudster peter obi wasn't happy at all .