The Federal Government has initiated a legal action against the governors of all 36 states at the Supreme Court, alleging misconduct in the administration of Local Government Areas (LGAs). The suit, marked SC/CV/343/2024 and filed by the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, seeks to secure full autonomy for LGAs as the third tier of government.

The Federal Government is requesting the Supreme Court to issue an order preventing state governors from unilaterally dissolving democratically elected local government leaders. Additionally, it seeks an order allowing funds allocated to local governments from the Federation Account to be directly transferred to them, in accordance with constitutional provisions, instead of being managed through joint accounts controlled by state governors.

Furthermore, the Federal Government is asking the court to prohibit governors from appointing caretaker committees to manage LGAs, which it argues is unconstitutional. It also seeks an injunction to prevent governors and their agents from handling funds meant for local governments in the absence of democratically elected councils.

The suit, supported by 27 grounds, asserts that the 1999 Constitution established Nigeria as a federation with federal, state, and local governments as the three recognized tiers. It argues that the Constitution mandates a democratically elected local government system and that governors’ failure to uphold this requirement constitutes a deliberate subversion of the Constitution.

The Federal Government claims that despite efforts to ensure compliance with constitutional provisions regarding local governments, governors have consistently failed to establish democratic systems at the local level. This failure, it contends, undermines the Constitution and justifies withholding funds from states that do not have democratically elected local governments.

To support its case, the Federal Government referenced several publications highlighting the issue, including reports from Daily Post, Vanguard, Guardian, Premium Times, and Arise News.

The Supreme Court has scheduled the hearing for May 30.

In a 13-paragraph affidavit filed by Kelechi Ohaeri from the Federal Ministry of Justice, the Attorney General argued that the only local government system recognized by the Constitution is one that is democratically elected. The affidavit emphasized that funds due to local government councils from the Federation Account should only be paid to those recognized by the Constitution.

The Federal Government urged the Supreme Court to invoke sections 1, 4, 5, 7, and 14 of the Constitution to declare that state governors and state houses of assembly are obligated to ensure a democratic system at the local government level. It also requested the court to declare any dissolution of democratically elected local government councils by governors or state powers as unlawful, unconstitutional, null, and void.