Supreme Court LG Autonomy Ruling Problematic, says Fayose

Former Ondo State Governor, Evangelist Ayodele Fayose, has expressed skepticism about the recent Supreme Court ruling that grants fiscal autonomy to Nigeria’s 744 Local Government Areas (LGAs). While many political analysts have lauded the decision, Fayose highlighted potential challenges regarding its practical implementation.

Speaking on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics, Fayose stated that although he does not support governors interfering with LG funds, he finds the separation of the two tiers of government—a long-standing interwoven relationship—problematic.

He pointed out that LG chairmen often owe their positions to governors who supported their rise, suggesting that these political ties could complicate the direct remittance of allocations to LGAs from the federal government.

The Supreme Court ruling mandates that federal allocations be directly remitted to LGAs, bypassing state governments. Fayose emphasized the practical difficulties of this arrangement, given the entrenched political dynamics where governors have traditionally played a significant role in the elevation and functioning of LG chairmen.

According to him, “I am not a lawyer. I am a politician and by God’s grace today, I am an elder statesman. While I love and do not believe that any government should take local government funds, may I say to you very clearly this evening that you cannot take the baby from the mother.

“There is nobody that can become council chairman without a governor. Anybody telling you otherwise is wasting his time.

“Let me quickly remind you that the house of assembly of every state controls the activities and checks the activities of the local government.

“While I was governor, I had the privilege of receiving money from Abuja. When you receive money from the account, some people manage the account. They are not politicians or the council chairman.

“There is only one representative of the governor, which is the local government commissioner. All others are local government officials, workers, and pensioners of the council.

“They appropriate the funds. But when you now come and say we are giving power to the local government, what power are you giving to them? No power. The state is more effective in administrative performance than the local government.”

Fayose disclosed that the operations of the LGAs is challenging and accused the LG staff of truancy resulting in many of them not showing up at offices regularly.

“Go to the council meeting on Wednesday or Friday, you will not find 10 percent of the staff of the local government in the office. They don’t come,” he added.

“My name is Ayo Fayose and I want them to dispute this. They don’t come to work. When you make moves to bring them to book, both NULGE and all leaders of the local government will go and beg the governor.

“They will be telling you, we will not vote for you. This is the way we operate at the local government.

“At the local government, everybody comes to collect money. Even people who have left some states. They live somewhere else and money just hit their accounts.”