The Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) and Governor of Kwara State, AbdulRazaq AbdulRahman, has expressed approval of the recent Supreme Court decision that grants financial autonomy to local governments and reduces the powers of state governors.
Speaking to newsmen on Friday after meeting with President Bola Tinubu at the State House in Abuja, Governor AbdulRahman emphasized that the state governors are comfortable with the ruling.
He highlighted that this decision has relieved the governors of a significant burden and marked a positive step in the devolution of power to the third tier of government.
“We welcome the ruling of the Supreme Court. Compliance is given, and our Attorneys General have applied for the enrollment order, which we will study carefully,” AbdulRahman stated. He added, “But by and large, governors are happy with the devolution of power concerning local government autonomy. It relieves the burden on governors.”
He further explained that the public often does not realize the extent of the financial support state governments provide to bail out local governments.
According to AbdulRahman, this ruling alleviates that pressure and allows local governments to manage their finances independently.
The NGF has requested the enrollment of the judgment and plans to review it comprehensively in their meeting next Wednesday.
“We will meet next Wednesday to look at the issue wholly and then come up with a resolution on that,” he said. He also noted that while the detailed enrollment of the court order has not been seen yet, they are preparing to address it accordingly.
Specifically addressing the impact on Kwara State, AbdulRahman reassured that the ruling would not negatively affect the state, as it has a history of not interfering with local council funds.
“It’s not going to affect the state; we’ve never tampered with local government funds,” he confirmed. “What the local governments have to do is to manage themselves, especially with the upcoming minimum wage, to manage their affairs and make sure salaries are paid, traditional rulers get their 5%, and those are the main issues.”
Governor AbdulRahman was accompanied by his Imo State counterpart, Senator Hope Uzodinma, who mentioned that they discussed various issues with the President, including the minimum wage and the Supreme Court ruling, along with other national matters affecting the states.
“We’ve seen the President on various issues from minimum wage, which he met with labour yesterday, the Supreme Court ruling, and other national issues that concern states as well,” Senator Uzodinma said.
