A foremost human rights activist, Mr. Femi Falana, SAN, says the judgment of the Supreme Court did not strip state governments of their influence on local government areas.
He spoke on Friday while featuring on Channels Television’s flagship programme, Sunrise Daily.
The apex court on Thursday stopped state governments from controlling the federal allocations of local governments.
It mandated the Federal Government to begin immediate and direct payment of federal allocations to the exclusive accounts of local governments.
Falana noted that the judgment would promote accountability at the grassroots level.
He, however, argued that the decision was not meant to strip state governments of their influence on the LGAs.
He said: “A lot depends on the Nigerian people because right now, it is difficult to talk about the autonomy of the local government. The state’s electoral commissions are manned by appointees of the state governors.
“What they have done over the years is to manipulate the local government elections in a way that only the candidates of the ruling parties would be declared the winners.
“Now, local governments would be expected to fix some schools, tar some roads and even pay some workers.
“So, it is not that state governments will no longer participate in the affairs of the local governments.
“The state governments should create state economic councils and allow the local governments to participate in them, just like they are part of the federal economic council.
“The judgment has to be studied by the governors so that everybody will appreciate that what the Supreme Court has done is to promote public accountability at the grassroots levels.”
