Local Councils Are Not Federating Units, Supreme Court Is Wrong – Okupe

Former Special Adviser to ex-president Olusegun Obasanjo, Doyin Okupe, has said the Supreme Court ruling on local government autonomy on Thursday was wrong.

Doyin Okupe said the local governments are not federating units of Nigeria. He said the ruling was an aberration and would create political confusion.

Okupe on Thursday said local governments belonged to the states and should not be an issue of the federal government.

He said, “The Supreme Court has declared in a landmark constitutional judgement that it is unconstitutional for state governments to hold on to LGA funds. It also went ahead to direct the FG to pay the 774 LGAs directly.

“On the surface and judging by our recent history, this political judgement sounds good and it is a great relief to the LGAs who have hitherto been financially emasculated and starved of their lawful revenues by state governors, thereby preventing them from being administratively and developmentally functional at the Grassroots levels.

“Many of those who have erroneously clamored for LGA autonomy, including the FG who is the plaintiff in this case, must feel victorious and justified.”

Okupe added, “However, I see it differently. I see a major constitutional aberration and political confusion here. I insist that the LGAs are not part of the federating units under our federalism. Which unequivocally is the union between the Central government (FG) and the subnationalities(States) only.”

With the Supreme Court ruling, the former presidential media aide called on President Bola Tinubu to work towards giving Nigeria a new constitution.

“Without doubt President Tinubu now, in the midst of this constitutional dilemma, must provide the nation with an opportunity to firmly take charge of its destiny through the provision of a new workable and acceptable Constitution, be it, Federalist/Unitarist/any others, that will once and for all address our varied yearnings, interests, desires, unresolved conflicts, cultures and sensitivities as sub-nationalities within the framework of a Nigerian federation and nation state,” he added.