₦airaland Forum

FreeStuffsNG:
By Punch Editorial Board



https://punchng.com/supreme-court-got-it-wrong-on-lg-autonomy/

The truth is that Tinubu has no solution to Nigeria's problems
He only come to change the garment of the problems
He refuse to tackle the problems

That is a good write-up by The Punch Editorial Board. It claims to have good knowledge of what Federalism is all about, but it is oblivious to Nigeria's peculiarities and legal system in the light of the Constitution. It thinks Federalism should be practiced the way it is in the US and India.

If that is expected, the starting point should be a Constitutional amendment to whatever makes the Constitution non-federal in its provisions.

The fact that the Supreme Court (SC) was bold enough to give judgment in light of the provisions of the Consitution is awesome because there has been an age-long debate over it, and the SC has just laid it to rest.

The Supreme Court would have failed to maximize the opportunity to put the law on Federalism in Nigeria straight (on Local Government and State allocation) in the light of the Constitution if it had held otherwise.

Largely speaking, Federalism in Nigeria cannot be outside what the Constitution says it is by its provisions. The best SC can do is to probably suggest areas where amendments are needed to bring it in conformity with Federalism as practiced in other climes which is not its responsibility.

Thank you.

FreeStuffsNG:
By Punch Editorial Board



https://punchng.com/supreme-court-got-it-wrong-on-lg-autonomy/

Disappointing editorial.

Ukeme8:
This is part of what I said some time ago

That the judgement was a good news from the Supreme Court, Hopefully, tomorrow will be the beginning of the freedom of LGs from the shackles of the State Governors

But sincerely, the Apex court jumped the gun on this matter of LGA allocation, because there is a law already in that constitution which states clearly the revenue must be paid in the state and LGA joint account but the Apex court by it judgement ask the executive to pay directly to the LGA. Which in itself is a bridge of the constitution. So would they now create a different account for the local government?

Because I think the National Assembly will have to make or amend the law(constitution) creating an account for the Local government in order for it to function, or the states governors will still have a hand on that funds. And if the governors are not also given or allowed to checkmate the Local government chairman, wouldn't they be owing and stealing money and not paying salaries like what happened before.

I think the state government should be allowed to also control and over see the local government area to some extent in other the local government and chairman and sit-up and function very well.

So the fg should oversee the states

When one monster is down another one comes to life. These LG chairmen have just been upgraded....
Last year the 18 LGA in my state received N43b. That is roughly N2.3b per LGA.... Imagine what N2.3b can do in a LGA if it's not embezzled.... This should bring government and the dividends of democracy closer to the ordinary people. But for where? Na Nigeria we dey....

Kobojunkie:
So we agree that the Supreme Court ruling was in violation of true federalism as defined in the Constitution? OK!

2. Glad you pointed out that the actions of the Governors in trying to usurp power and control over the LGs are illegal.

Have we been practicing federalism in the true sense? Did you take your time to read the decision of Justice Agim?

Meti99:
Are you trying to defend the "food is ready come and take" kind of government?
A system that allows laziness at grassroot
A system that rob people of ingenuity and creativity...
That shows how bereft of reality you are sir.
What thrives the economy and growth is where there's healthy competition in resource control management and development from grassroot.
The FG should concentrate on the exclusive list and allow regions to generate and manage their resources

Does the current system promotes any form of productivity? Is by laziness the people at the grassroots get to decide their own fate then that’s fair —they can choose to elect leaders that’ll squander their fortunes that’s the local people’s cup of coffee.

FreeStuffsNG:
The State and Local Government Joint Account was created because council bosses were looting funds and not paying primary school teachers. Since that account was created, primary school teachers are no longer owed salaries. Sadly, paying the monthly allocation directly to the councils would not stop the diversion of council funds.

States should stop the illegal practice of dissolving elected councils and appointing caretaker committees. Local elections should be free, fair, and credible to ensure accountability.

The two paragraphs above are part of the inconsistencies in the Punch Editorial. In one breadth it blamed the LGs for owing primary school teachers and claimed that the problem was solved with the State-LGAs joint account while in another breadth it admitted that there is the problem of illegal dissolution of democratically elected LGA administration and replacement with caretaker committees funded from the joint account.

Another inconsistency is boxing federalism into a certain mould as if the independence of LGAs suddenly strips away the operation of true federalism. India and Brazil are bad examples because of their caste system against certain people and religions in their countries. The central government of Brazil is taking over indigenous lands by fiat while India's democracy doesn't pretend that it's a government of the Hindus by the Hindus for the Hindus so much that the central government can demolish Mosques and build Hindu temple to replace the Mosques. Which kind of federalism gives central government the authority to impose religion on a LG? That's no federalism and bad of the Punch to cite both Brazil and India.

The Supreme Court is in order by insisting that the LGAs democratically elected leaders can never be effective unless they enjoy financial autonomy. The constitution never denied or affirmed the LGAs financial autonomy so the SC is not wrong by recognizing that the same independence the federating States could exercise is because of their financial autonomy and same privilege should be extended to LGAs.

Primary School teachers were equally indicted too when it was discovered that many of them were always absent from work and many barely qualified to teach. That's the problem of TRCN that should ensure that only professional teachers in its national register are recruited , it's not entirely the fault of the LGAs. If the payment of primary school teachers will be a problem then their salaries should be deducted from source so that no LG executive will tamper with their salaries. The rest should be monitored by EFCC and NFIU. If possible build special courts to quickly prosecute and severely punish any corrupt LG official and/or traditional institution Head.

That state-LG joint account arrangement is nothing more than a piggy bank for some state Governors and that's the weapon they use to remove democratically elected LG executives and even strip the traditional institutions of funds and render them impotent ,so much that insecurity has taken over and some Community Heads and royal authorities are at the mercy of rich bandits,
cultists and criminals who can easily buy their loyalty by placing them on their payroll with the illicit funds from their crimes. In Edo state, there's already complaint by the Gov that the Oba is using cultists to collect ishakole to run its operation when it should be funded by the LGAs and not hiring alleged cultists he is now blaming for the insecurity in Benin.

May God bless Nigeria for ever! Check my signature for free stuffs!

You do not sever the head from the body just because it aches. You apply the required medication and rest to relieve the body of the headache. What to do is to use the organs of state to deal with the criminal conduct of the Local Government Chairmen and its leadership and the looting at that level will stop. Thankfully they have no immunity from prosecution!

The punch Editorial submission is not right, citing corruption on why the governor should continue to control the LGA funds is totally wrong because most of the governors who used the funds are also corrupt.

ElevationD:
∆ Have we been practicing federalism in the true sense? Did you take your time to read the decision of Justice Agim?

It is not magical system or driven by spirits. It depends a great deal on the people working together to make the system work.

FreeStuffsNG:
The State and Local Government Joint Account was created because council bosses were looting funds and not paying primary school teachers. Since that account was created, primary school teachers are no longer owed salaries. Sadly, paying the monthly allocation directly to the councils would not stop the diversion of council funds.

States should stop the illegal practice of dissolving elected councils and appointing caretaker committees. Local elections should be free, fair, and credible to ensure accountability.

The two paragraphs above are part of the inconsistencies in the Punch Editorial. In one breadth it blamed the LGs for owing primary school teachers and claimed that the problem was solved with the State-LGAs joint account while in another breadth it admitted that there is the problem of illegal dissolution of democratically elected LGA administration and replacement with caretaker committees funded from the joint account.

Another inconsistency is boxing federalism into a certain mould as if the independence of LGAs suddenly strips away the operation of true federalism. India and Brazil are bad examples because of their caste system against certain people and religions in their countries. The central government of Brazil is taking over indigenous lands by fiat while India's democracy doesn't pretend that it's a government of the Hindus by the Hindus for the Hindus so much that the central government can demolish Mosques and build Hindu temple to replace the Mosques. Which kind of federalism gives central government the authority to impose religion on a LG? That's no federalism and bad of the Punch to cite both Brazil and India.

The Supreme Court is in order by insisting that the LGAs democratically elected leaders can never be effective unless they enjoy financial autonomy. The constitution never denied or affirmed the LGAs financial autonomy so the SC is not wrong by recognizing that the same independence the federating States could exercise is because of their financial autonomy and same privilege should be extended to LGAs.

Primary School teachers were equally indicted too when it was discovered that many of them were always absent from work and many barely qualified to teach. That's the problem of TRCN that should ensure that only professional teachers in its national register are recruited , it's not entirely the fault of the LGAs. If the payment of primary school teachers will be a problem then their salaries should be deducted from source so that no LG executive will tamper with their salaries. The rest should be monitored by EFCC and NFIU. If possible build special courts to quickly prosecute and severely punish any corrupt LG official and/or traditional institution Head.

That state-LG joint account arrangement is nothing more than a piggy bank for some state Governors and that's the weapon they use to remove democratically elected LG executives and even strip the traditional institutions of funds and render them impotent ,so much that insecurity has taken over and some Community Heads and royal authorities are at the mercy of rich bandits,
cultists and criminals who can easily buy their loyalty by placing them on their payroll with the illicit funds from their crimes. In Edo state, there's already complaint by the Gov that the Oba is using cultists to collect ishakole to run its operation when it should be funded by the LGAs and not hiring alleged cultists he is now blaming for the insecurity in Benin.

May God bless Nigeria for ever! Check my signature for free stuffs!

Allow Punch to continue being smart by half.

I totally disagree with Punch Editorial on this one. If I'm to view it from the wrong perspective, I prefer our collective funds to be looted in a distributed manner instead of the governor alone. This will serve to reduce the godlike status of our governors and better distribution of looted funds. On a better view, the local government autonomy will enhance faster distribution of development of rural areas and impact of government will be better felt at the local level.

No matter how I view it, the merits of local government autonomy outweighs the demerits the governors are trying to shove down our throats.

zoedew:
You do not sever the head from the body just because it aches. You apply the required medication and rest to relieve the body of the headache. What to do is to use the organs of state to deal with the criminal conduct of the Local Government Chairmen and its leadership and the looting at that level will stop. Thankfully they have no immunity from prosecution!

They are not the most corrupt

Punch Editorial is simply reprehensible.

It pretends as if it doesn’t know how Governors are looting recklessly.

LG chairmen would be on their toes as they know efcc, and the people are watching.

It is convenient for Nigerians to cite happenings in the US when it suits them, forgetting we have different constitutions.

FreeStuffsNG:
By Punch Editorial Board



https://punchng.com/supreme-court-got-it-wrong-on-lg-autonomy/

This editorial was sponsored by the NGF! The Punch Editorial goofed!

tishbite42:
Did we have local governments under Abacha?

Yes we had local government council under Abacha's rule, infact Abacha's government in 1996 created additional 185 local government councils bringing the total to its present number of 774.

lionshare:
Does the current system promotes any form of productivity? Is by laziness the people at the grassroots get to decide their own fate then that’s fair —they can choose to elect leaders that’ll squander their fortunes that’s the local people’s cup of coffee.

Well, it must not continue like that..
Let the FG return the stolen power of Resource Control to either states or regions..
There are regions that can turn their land to Dubai and Europe if power to control their mineral resources are returned to them ..
This forced unity is killing potentials..
Moreover, Tinubu is only a paper praised politician

If we have only Federal and sub-national, and not three tiers of Government, why sharing Federal allocation into 3, between federal, state and local government?

Ukeme8:
This is part of what I said some time ago

That the judgement was a good news from the Supreme Court, Hopefully, tomorrow will be the beginning of the freedom of LGs from the shackles of the State Governors

But sincerely, the Apex court jumped the gun on this matter of LGA allocation, because there is a law already in that constitution which states clearly the revenue must be paid in the state and LGA joint account but the Apex court by it judgement ask the executive to pay directly to the LGA. Which in itself is a bridge of the constitution. So would they now create a different account for the local government?

Because I think the National Assembly will have to make or amend the law(constitution) creating an account for the Local government in order for it to function, or the states governors will still have a hand on that funds. And if the governors are not also given or allowed to checkmate the Local government chairman, wouldn't they be owing and stealing money and not paying salaries like what happened before.

I think the state government should be allowed to also control and over see the local government area to some extent in other the local government and chairman and sit-up and function very well.

For checkmating LG chairmen/officials, EFCC, ICPC should have their capacity increased to handle that

Kenochi:
This punch editorial is saying a lot of things but not making sense

If all organs of Govt. are functioning,it will reduce the pressure on the Federal Government

This here is the part that amuses me. When did you agbados realise the need for less pressure on FG? Is that not a tacit admission that your political lord is overwhelmed with the responsibility he claimed to have capacity for better than others?
The FG gets a much pressure that comes with the enormous power and resources it wields. No one can seriously expect to absolve FG of responsibility when it still takes more than half of resources meant for the nation while wielding absolute forces of coercion besides its supremacy in legislation. Certainly not a sub-tier with minimal capacity can do that where states have not fared better

Kobojunkie:
It is not magical system or driven by spirits. It depends a great deal on the people working together to make the system work.

All talk. What actions have you been part of that succeeded in modifiying the political/legal landscape?

All I'm hearing is the usual, "they should do . . . ", "you people should do". Easier said than done.

opalu:
Imported Federalism and Imported Democracy can never work in Nigeria. We have to use what works for us. If having three Tiers of Government is what works for us, so be it. Punch should stop bring Indian style into Nigerian system. When LGs were receiving direct allocations, we saw how wealth was circulating at the grassroots. Because out of 774 Chairmen, atleast if we have 300 good people, Suffering at the grassroots won't be like this. Then EFCC can chase the rest. No immunity for them. But Governors with immunity can use LGA funds to buy Dubai houses and immunity would shield them

If we have to use what works for us can we justify having two legislative houses and an expensive presidency when we claim to be a poor country? Cause it seems as if we only mouth doing what works for us when political convenience is the main aim.

Politicians must learn to stop taking critical decisions just for the spur of the moment!

Just because of supremacy battle between Wike and Fubara, the bigoted Fagbemi allowed himself as a tool to take some useless court decision that may come back to fight him in the near future.

"Learned Colleague" indeed!

This Editorial is in bad taste.

Complete nonsense.

Meti99:
Well, it must not continue like that..
Let the FG return the stolen power of Resource Control to either states or regions..
There are regions that can turn their land to Dubai and Europe if power to control their mineral resources are returned to them ..
This forced unity is killing potentials..
Moreover, Tinubu is only a paper praised politician

What currently stops the States from functioning with the resources they currently control?

opalu:
Imported Federalism and Imported Democracy can never work in Nigeria. We have to use what works for us. If having three Tiers of Government is what works for us, so be it. Punch should stop bring Indian style into Nigerian system. When LGs were receiving direct allocations, we saw how wealth was circulating at the grassroots. Because out of 774 Chairmen, atleast if we have 300 good people, Suffering at the grassroots won't be like this. Then EFCC can chase the rest. No immunity for them. But Governors with immunity can use LGA funds to buy Dubai houses and immunity would shield them

Correct!
Make I just quote u .

livetalk:
If we have only Federal and sub-national, and not three tiers of Government, why sharing Federal allocation into 3, between federal, state and local government?

95% of Nigerians are ignorant. That's why politicians are exploiting them. There shouldn't even be anything called federal allocation. States generate their funds and give the central govt a percentage. There is no federalism in the world that has three tiers. It's always between the federal and regions/states. It's the states constitution that creates LGA in each states depending on the state's peculiarities and needs. LGAs are used by states to make governance easier. With this supreme court overreach, LGA being the most corrupt tier of govt will get more corrupt and people will suffer.

This one thinks it is The New York Times.

Are the good systems of governance we see in the USA replicated here? Can the level of accountability and transparency of the governors in America be compared to what we have here? Lawless Nigerian governors are ruining the country with impunity and you are making baseless comparisons. Let the local governments control their finances.

The Supreme Court is absolutely right to have decided the way they did.

lawani:
They are not the most corrupt

That, with respect to you, is not the issue here. The issue is whether it is right to deny the Local Government Authority the funds due to its coffers simply because the Local Government Authority Chairmen are corrupt.

zoedew:
That, with respect to you, is not the issue here. The issue is whether it is right to deny the Local Government Authority the funds due to its coffers simply because the Local Government Authority Chairmen are corrupt.

of course, it is not right to hold their funds because of that. The head of the lg is a chief executive just like the president.

DatNiggaDaz:
Agbado lawyers from the land of emilokans have destroyed what buhari left to be destroyed. To know that the Minister of justice & the chief judge of the supreme court don't know what federalism means tells you a lot about the much talked about sophisticatiion of these rascals.



When you hear them shouting sophisticatiion, you will think intelligence comes with it. But what is means is to go tribal ronu, nepotistic & bigoted when it involves other ethnic Nigerians.

The politicians from that place are the worst set of politicians in the whole world. Anything that has already been destroyed, they destroy even further. Political power is not meant for these Set of fraudsters because corruption, tribalism greed, bigotry & nepotism will is always taken to a whole New heigth like what we are experiencing from the most sophisticated failure to come out of that region.

When they mistakenly grab power, you will notice that everything start to fall like a torn Pack of cards. They use rascality, threats, corruption, thugs, agberos as avenue to get what ever they like.

Thesame thing happened in the 60ties with operation wetie

They are only good in praise singing incompetent clueless failures from back to back.

Make we know too blame poor person on Nairaland like yourself, since you know pass Attorney General of Nigeria, and Judges of The Supreme Court of Nigeria.

Bulldozer90:
95% of Nigerians are ignorant. That's why politicians are exploiting them. There shouldn't even be anything called federal allocation. States generate their funds and give the central govt a percentage. There is no federalism in the world that has three tiers. It's always between the federal and regions/states. It's the states constitution that creates LGA in each states depending on the state's peculiarities and needs. LGAs are used by states to make governance easier. With this supreme court overreach, LGA being the most corrupt tier of govt will get more corrupt and people will suffer.

Stop floating in your ignorance, Yankee has local governments called municipalities.

Make people wey never enter aeroplane local flight, No dey argue with people wey done live for stateside.