…Says Joint Accounts With State Govts Illegal
Nigeria’s Supreme Court has ordered that allocations from the Federation Account should be paid directly to the state/local governments’ accounts, thereby liberating them from the control of such funds by the state governors.
The apex court seven-member panel, in a landmark judgment delivered on Thursday by Justice Emmanuel Agim, affirmed that the operation of the of the state/local government joint accounts was illegal and contrary to the provisions of Section 162 of the 1999 Constitution as amended.
Specifically, the jurists held that the 774 local governments in the country should, from the date of the judgment receive their allocations directly from the Accountant-General of the Federation.
The Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Mr Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), had sued the governors to court for it to determine the legality or otherwise of state/local government accounts.
Over the past years, local governments have been unable to directly receive their monthly allocations by the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) based on the joint accounts illegally created by the state governments where the funds are disbursed to and spent based on the discretion of the state governors.
The governors’ control apart from the financial control of the local government also includes arbitrary dissolution of elected local government executives, contrary to several court decisions adjudging such action as illegal.
The lack of independence of the local governments also stemmed from the governors’ overbearing influence on other political institutions, including the states’ independent electoral commissions, through which they impose their preferred candidates on the electorate during elections.
Prior to its ruling, the apex court rejected the objection raised by the state governments to affirm the right of the AGF to file the suit.
In the ruling, Justice Agim affirmed that the AGF had the legal authority to initiate the lawsuit and uphold the constitution.
The judge said: “I hold that the plaintiff’s request is hereby approved and all the reliefs granted.”
