By Chesa Chesa
Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, on Thursday hailed the Supreme Court judgement that granted autonomy to the 774 local government areas in the country, while advising State Governors to respect it.
While Akpabio said it demonstrated President Bola Tinubu’s desire and respect for separation of powers, Abbas noted that previous futile attempts to grant such autonomy have eventually yielded fruit.
Speaking to State House correspondents after meeting with Tinubu at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, President of the Senate said, “the request was placed before the courts by the AGF because the Federal Government through President Bola Tinubu feels strongly about separation of powers and the need for autonomy of all arms of governments.
“And so for us in the legislature, the Supreme Court has spoken and we have no option than to abide by the Supreme Court ruling.
“So, I will just call on all states of the federation to respect what the Supreme Court has done and then we will go back to the legislature and see where we can dot the i’s and cross the t’s to ensure the full implementation.
“Because you know the words of the Supreme Court are like the words of the king, they cannot go down to the ground without implementation.
“So I think this is a great day for democracy, and I congratulate the president for this initiative. And I know that all Nigerians now know that local government administration is an arm of government meant for the grassroots and their money should be for the grassroots.
“And definitely, local governments can now undertake projects on their own. So it’s a great day for democracy and is the beginning of great things to come.
“What will you be telling governors who seem not to conduct elections at local government level?
“I have seen the judgement, I will study the judgement. But at the same time I advice there should be an impartial election at the local government level so that all the political parties can participate.
“At the moment there’s a lot of lethargy and nonchalant attitude by many political parties whose parties are not in power at the state level, they hardly partake in local government elections because of the perceive bandwagon effect and all that.
“So, is a great thing that the Supreme Court has done the needful and now we have to go back and think, working with the AGF’s office and the parliament to see how we can ensure that there’s real election at the LG levels.
“I think once that is done, everybody will have confidence. It’s progress for democracy and that is how it should be. So we congratulate the justices of the Supreme Court and we in the parliament are determined to make sure there’s enforceability.”
Describing the judgement as an impossibility that has become a reality, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Trajudeen Abbas, said, “the members have been very happy because history has been made ,this is an issue that has been before the parliament for the past twenty years.
“All the constitutional amendments that were so far carried by the National Assembly ,one aspect of it has always been local government autonomy ,how to make the LG to work independently.
“Today, that impossibility became a reality, everyone is happy and we are looking forward to LG that will work functionally and that will be able to work on there own and extend goodwill to their own people undisturbed by the excesses by the state Governors.”
