Local Govt. Autonomy: Supreme Court judgement enforceable, Ozekhome tells critics

A prominent Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Mike Ozekhome, responded on Thursday to critics of the Supreme Court judgement ordering direct payment of Nigeria’s 774 local governments’ shares of federal allocations directly to them.

The judgement, delivered in July, upturned the longstanding arrangement of paying the local government areas’ federal allocations into joint accounts controlled by the state governors in their respective states.

The Supreme Court ruled that it was illegal and unconstitutional for governors to receive and withhold funds allocated to local government areas in their states.

Mr Ozekhome said the judgement is binding and must be enforced nationwide.

He said the Supreme Court’s interpretation of section 162 of the Nigerian constitution was unambiguous, leaving no room for delay in its implementation.

“Many people, both Nigerians and non-Nigerians, have asked me whether the Supreme Court erred in its interpretation of Section 162(3), (4), (5), and (6) of the 1999 Constitution, and what can be done about the allegedly incorrect judgement,” Mr Ozekhome said in a statement released Thursday in Abuja.

“My response is simple: the judgement of the Supreme Court is not just enforceable, it is superior to the written provisions of the Constitution. The law is not merely what is stated on paper; it is what the courts interpret it to be,” he explained, referencing an opinion of an American jurist Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., who once said, “The prophecies of what the courts will do in fact, and nothing more pretentious, are what I mean by the law.”

He further argued that the Supreme Court’s interpretation of section 162 of the constitution prevails over the plain text, as the law only comes to life through judicial interpretation.

Addressing concerns about the enforceability of the decision, Mr Ozekhome referenced section 287(1) of the constitution, which mandates that decisions of the Supreme Court “shall be enforced in any part of the federation by all authorities and persons, and by courts of subordinate jurisdiction to that of the Supreme Court.”

He said the the judgement remains enforceable regardless of contrary opinions anyone may hold about its interpretation of the constitution.

“Even if the Supreme Court’s interpretation of section 162 is considered flawed, the judgement remains binding on all until it is either overturned by a higher authority or the relevant section of the Constitution is amended,” the senior lawyer said.

He said no person or authority has the discretion to selectively obey or disobey a court judgement.

He cited a 2007 case, Michael Balonwu & Ors v. Governor of Anambra State & Ors, where the court held that “an order of the court, whether valid or not, must be obeyed until it is set aside.”

“The rule of law demands that court judgments be respected and enforced, regardless of whether one agrees with them,” he said.

Agreement on procedure

Mr Ozekhome suggested that the federal, state, and local governments jointly establish procedures for the direct payment of allocations to local governments.

“This is not a complex issue,” Mr Ozekhome said, noting that the Supreme Court’s decision aimed to correct the long-standing misuse of local government funds by state governors. “The judgment was clear: by Section 162(3) and (5) of the Constitution, allocations from the Federation Account to local governments must be distributed and paid directly to them.

“The directives in this judgement are straightforward, unambiguous, and must be implemented without delay.

“I stand by my earlier opinion that the Supreme Court was correct in its interpretation of Section 162, and I urge all concerned parties to respect the rule of law as we work towards true fiscal federalism in Nigeria,” he said.

PREMIUM TIMES reported that the Supreme Court of Nigeria ruled in favour of granting financial autonomy to the country’s 774 local governments, a decision seen as a significant step towards strengthening local governance.

In a unanimous decision delivered on 11 July by its seven-member panel, the Supreme Court upheld a suit brought by the federal government seeking to bolster the independence of local governments across the nation.

A Supreme Court judge, Emmanuel Agim, who delivered the lead judgement, ordered that local governments must begin to receive their federal allocations directly from the Accountant-General of the Federation.

Mr Agim ruled that it was illegal and unconstitutional for state governors to receive and withhold funds intended for local government areas (LGAs).