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By Lizzy Chirkpi
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has criticised President Bola Ahmed Tinubu over what he described as the Federal Government’s deliberate refusal to implement a binding Supreme Court judgment on direct allocation of funds to local governments.
In a statement on his X handle (formerly Twitter) addressed to President Tinubu , Atiku said that by July next year, the administration would have spent two years deliberately ignoring the apex court’s ruling directing the Federal Government to enforce direct disbursement of Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) funds to local councils.
“This is not delay. It is defiance,” Atiku declared, accusing the President of turning obedience to the law into a political bargaining tool. According to him, the refusal to act is a calculated strategy aimed at pressuring opposition governors to defect to the All Progressives Congress (APC) and tightening control over governors within the ruling party.
He warned that such conduct undermines constitutional governance. “Supreme Court judgments are final, not optional. Persistently refusing to enforce one is a direct breach of the Constitution and a violation of the oath you swore to Nigerians,” Atiku said.
The former Vice President stressed that local governments, as the tier of government closest to the people, are bearing the brunt of the Federal Government’s inaction. He argued that withholding their financial autonomy has worsened poverty and stalled development at the grassroots.
“By withholding their financial autonomy ironically a policy you claim to support you are not weakening governors; you are crippling communities,” he stated. “Roads remain broken, health centres abandoned, and salaries unpaid not by accident, but by choice.”
Atiku dismissed suggestions that the issue requires executive threats or political grandstanding, insisting that the solution is straightforward. “The solution is simple: instruct the Attorney-General of the Federation to enforce the judgment immediately. Anything short of this is a failure of leadership,” he said.
He further accused the Tinubu administration of prioritising political dominance over constitutional responsibility and economic justice. “Your continued inaction sends a clear message: that political control matters more than constitutional duty, that party dominance matters more than economic justice, and that regime survival outweighs the daily suffering of Nigerians,” Atiku added.
Concluding the statement, the former Vice President warned that the moment would not be forgotten. “Nigeria deserves leadership that obeys the law it swore to protect, not one that bends it for political gain. History will not forget this moment. Nigerians will not either.”