The recent verdict of the Supreme Court of Nigeria that no state governor has the power to remove a democratically elected local government official did not come to many as a surprise. That well-thought-out judgement has strengthened the argument by respected legal minds that the governors had been acting unconstitutionally.
The apex court, while delivering a judgement in the case of the removal of 148 elected local government officials by the Abia State government in 2006, held that the action was against the law and amounted to official recklessness by the then state governor. The five-member panel also ordered the Abia State government to pay the sacked 148 elected officials their salaries and entitlements for the 23 months they were out of office.
The verdict, we believe, was sound and in order. It is what many legal minds have canvassed: that the governor could only have acted unlawfully. Also, we perceive the governor’s appointment of administrators in local councils as well as the tampering with their allocations as a breach that confirms their ignoble relation with local governments as ministries under their supervision. We condemn this because the federal government, considered a senior partner in the tier, does not meddle in the funds accruable to states, which are known to have challenged in court any attempt to short-change them in the sharing formula. The constitution has made provision for only democratically elected local governments. If this is the case, then, the election of these officials is for a fixed tenure.
Local governments, according to the constitution, were created to provide services to the rural population. In that case, they need all the resources at their disposal to achieve these objectives. But, over the years, we have noticed how the common wealth of the local councils have been wasted by the governors or diverted elsewhere for their personal use and to the detriment of the people. Considering the state of affairs in that tier of government, it is obvious that all the resources available to them are not being effectively mobilised and utilised for the benefit of the rural communities.
We urge the governors to be partners with the councils in the effort to provide social services to the people at the grass roots. The Fourth Schedule of the 1999 Constitution gives some functions to local governments to make sure that their services reach every nook and cranny. The success, achievement and effectiveness of these councils depend largely on the financial resources available to them and the way these resources are deployed and utilised. It is necessary to remind the governors and the state assemblies of the need to obey the Supreme Court judgement and allow the local governments to function properly in the general interest of democracy and the people.
