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By Tracy Moses
The Chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Hon. Busayo Oluwole Oke, has urged state governments to respect Supreme Court rulings on Local Government independence, stressing that they can support LGs without infringing on their autonomy.
The issue of LG independence in Nigeria has been a recurring point of legal, political, and administrative debate for decades. While the 1999 Constitution grants Local Governments certain powers, many state governments over the years have maintained substantial control over their finances and administration. This has often limited the freedom of elected councils, affecting governance at the grassroots and the delivery of services to citizens.
In recent years, the Supreme Court of Nigeria has delivered landmark judgments affirming the financial and administrative independence of LGs, ruling that state governments cannot override or undermine their autonomy. These decisions aim to strengthen democratic governance at the local level and ensure that elected councils can function without undue interference.
Despite these rulings, some states have tried to retain control over LG funds and administration through measures such as joint accounts, caretaker committees, and executive oversight mechanisms. Such actions have frequently sparked legal and political controversies, raising questions about the supremacy of the Constitution and the finality of judicial interpretation.
Against this backdrop, Hon. Oke emphasized that Nigeria’s constitutional democracy rests on the supremacy of the Constitution and the finality of judicial interpretation. Speaking in Abuja on Friday during the release of a statement titled “Local Government Autonomy and the Rule of Law: Why States Must Comply, Not Confront,” he said that once the Supreme Court delivers a judgment, all levels of government are constitutionally obliged to obey.
He explained that recent rulings by the highest court on the administration and financial independence of LGs have reignited nationwide debate, but maintained that personal or political opinions cannot override constitutional obligations. He said: “Under Section 235 of the 1999 Constitution, the Supreme Court is the final court of the land. Its decisions are not advisory or optional. They represent the authoritative meaning of the Constitution itself.”
Hon. Oke warned that no State House of Assembly, including Osun State, has the constitutional authority to enact laws that dilute, override, or bypass Supreme Court rulings on LG independence. Any attempt to do so, he noted, would be unconstitutional and null. He explained that while legislatures are empowered to make laws, they cannot revisit disputes already conclusively interpreted by the Supreme Court. Even the National Assembly cannot overturn a Supreme Court judgment through ordinary legislation. The only lawful way to change such outcomes, he said, is through a constitutional amendment applied to future cases.
At the same time, the lawmaker clarified that compliance with Supreme Court rulings does not render state governments powerless. States still have wide latitude to enact laws that strengthen LG democracy without undermining independence. Constructive areas for state support include guaranteeing regular and credible LG elections, promoting transparency through independent audits, improving administrative coordination without financial control, and supporting capacity building and service delivery at the grassroots level.
He cautioned, however, that “what states cannot do is reintroduce control through renamed joint accounts, caretaker committees, or executive gatekeeping disguised as oversight.”
Hon. Oke also called for cooperation rather than confrontation between states and LGs, urging intergovernmental collaboration through memoranda of understanding, joint planning frameworks, and technical support mechanisms that respect the independence of elected councils. He encouraged stakeholders to pursue constitutional advocacy through national dialogue on issues such as fiscal federalism and revenue allocation, rather than resorting to unilateral state actions.
“Until such amendments are lawfully enacted, the Supreme Court’s interpretation remains binding,” he said, adding that LG independence is meant to deepen democracy and bring governance closer to the people. He concluded: “Obedience to the rule of law strengthens democratic institutions. Compliance is not weakness; it is fidelity to constitutional governance and a commitment to Nigeria’s democratic future.”