LG Autonomy: Supreme Judgment Victory For Country, Democracy — ADC

LG Autonomy: Supreme Judgment Victory For Country, Democracy — ADC

CHIGOZIE AMADI

African Democratic Con­gress (ADC) has described the Supreme Court ruling affirming Local Government Financial Autonomy as an unprecedented political victory for the judiciary, the country and democracy.

The party further said that it a clear manifestation of how each arm of government can drive development by taking principled and patriotic posi­tions for the interest of Nigeria.

ADC, in a statement by its National Chairman, Ralphs Okey Nwosu also said that the judgment “is a great outcome for our democracy and catalyst for national development.

“My party, the ADC has con­tinued to advocate for the active participation of the local govern­ment Area councils in running our affairs as the council is the authentic grassroots leadership any nation needs to make organ­ic progress. Total Local govern­ment autonomy, financial and otherwise are critical for grass­roots development.”

The party National Chair­man congratulated President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for the bold step not minding his past and the antics of state governors and some of the legislators.

“The main kudos and com­pliments goes to the men and women who sat in the Supreme Court to affirm that ‘all the local government councils across the country should, from Thursday, receive their allocations directly from the Accountant-General of the Federation’.

“The judiciary has by this singular ruling breathed life into our local governments and vitality to all communities and persons in this country. They have also put the shameful ac­tions of all the governors who have served for the last 21 years to an end. The governors, all of them without exception, have acted as octopuses strangulat­ing local government and our communities’ development and in many ways debasing our de­mocracy.

“By the time we have free lo­cal governments with five to 10 billion naira distributed to each of the 774 of them annually, the effect will be phenomenal. Some LGA councils’ performance will put many governors to shame

“At the same time, I will call on Chief Edozie Njoku to compel the governor of my state to fix a date for conducting the Local government council’s election in Anambra state without delay.

“Anambra state has re­mained the worst hit state, as the successive governors have been operating with caretaker and in­terim council structure for the last 21 years. Records show that all the governors have lavished over trillions of Local govern­ment funds.

“To strengthen the judgment, I further call on all National Chairmen of all other political parties that are in control of the states to call their governors to conduct Local council elections forthwith,” he said.