Just In : Afenifere slams Supreme Court judgment on Local Govt autonomy
Afenifere, the Pan Yoruba Socio-Political Group, has criticized the Supreme Court’s decision granting fiscal autonomy to local government areas, describing it as deeply harmful to the Nigerian state. The group’s leader, Pa Ayo Adebanjo, and its National Publicity Secretary, Prince Justice Faloye, conveyed this sentiment in a statement released in Akure, the state capital. Titled “Tinubu and the Grand Conspiracy Against Democracy and True Federalism in Nigeria,” the statement accuses the Supreme Court of colluding with the Tinubu administration to undermine federalism and the foundational principles of the Nigerian state.
Afenifere contends that the Supreme Court’s judgment in the federal government’s case on local government autonomy represents a judicial conspiracy. The group argues that instead of upholding the constitution’s federal principles, which recognize a two-tier federal structure comprising the central government and federating states, the Supreme Court unnecessarily expanded the governmental powers to include local governments as a third arm.
The group asserts that Nigeria, as defined by Section 2(2) of the 1999 constitution, is a federation consisting of states and a Federal Capital Territory. Afenifere emphasizes that while it opposes corruption and mismanagement of public funds across all government levels, it vehemently opposes any attempt to subordinate states and their constitutional roles, including the local government system, to federal government control.
Regarding the interpretation of Section 162 of the constitution concerning the State Joint Local Government Account, Afenifere argues against the Supreme Court’s assertion that direct payment of local government allocations from the Federation Account is permissible. The group asserts that such an interpretation undermines established constitutional provisions and distorts the principles of federalism.
Afenifere, however, advocated for a comprehensive restructuring of Nigeria’s political system to reinstate true federalism, as envisioned by the nation’s founding fathers. This includes reaffirming the states’ exclusive jurisdiction over the local government system, either through direct constitutional provisions or residual powers within a federation.
