Local govt autonomy is Tinubu’s political move for 2027 election – Buhari

The Vice Presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress in the 2023 election, Ahmed Buhari, has offered a contrary opinion to the widely hailed Supreme Court judgment granting financial autonomy to local governments in Nigeria.

He says President Bola Tinubu is implementing the autonomy for the third tier of government to garner political support at the grassroots during the 2027 election.

Nigeria’s highest court recently ruled that it was illegal and unconstitutional for governors to receive and withhold funds allocated to local government areas in their states.

“The amount standing to the credit of local government councils must be paid by the federation to the local government councils and not by any other person or body,” the Supreme Court ruled.

The court stripped governors of the power to dissolve elected local government councils and replace them with caretaker committees.

The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, instituted the case in May on behalf of the federal government.

‘It is a political move’

Giving his perspective on the landmark judgment, Mr Buhari said even though he supports local government autonomy the judgment is Mr Tinubu’s political move to capture the grassroots ahead of the 2027 election.

Mr Buhari stated this on Wednesday while appearing as a guest on Focus Nigeria, aired on AIT.

“It is a political move. So, if I want to come back to office in 2027, I might not necessarily win the loyalty of the governors because most of them might also want to contest against me.

“But if I can win the loyalty of the people at the grassroots where the real votes are, they know that the money comes directly from me to them. They have access to me. We are leaving the governors hanging and we can even remove the governors if we want,” Mr Buhari said.

“From the political perspective, I am seeing President Tinubu trying to take the powers away from the governors and win the grassroots directly by making sure that the funds from the federal (government) move directly to the (local government) councils so that if that is done they (local government councils) listen to him,” he added.

Mr Buhari said the local government chairpersons would face the same problem that state governors are facing with misappropriation of funds – prosecution by the anti-graft agency, particularly the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

“Now the federal government will know there is a misappropriation – they (council chairpersons) are messing up. Look, we gave you this (amount), and you only used two per cent for this project. Where is the 98 per cent?

“The federal government will now say we need something from you. Give us XYZ amount of support and votes for the next election – done,” he said.

On how to tackle misappropriation of funds by public officers, Mr Buhari recommended adopting a technological-driven system to help in accountability, transparency and efficiency that will guarantee good governance.

President Tinubu’s spokesperson, Ajuri Ngelale did not respond to calls and a text message seeking his comments on Mr Buhari’s remark.