Nigeria's supreme court protects autonomy of local governments in accordance with constitutional federalism

The Supreme Court judgement on July 11, granting financial autonomy to the 774 local councils and recognising them as the third tier of Nigeria’s governance architecture, was truly historic. It was perhaps the most remarkable judgement ever delivered by the apex court in recent times, as it used its power to interpret the law to give a different meaning to Section 162 of the Constitution. Since 1999, governors have used this section to withhold and tamper with the funds federally allocated to the councils, using a joint account that has proven to be a honeypot of abuse. Last Thursday, the Supreme Court described the payment of the allocations to the account as gross misconduct and scolded the governors for dissolving democratically elected councils and setting up caretaker committees. The court ruled that caretaker committees are illegal and that councils run by them should not receive the federal allocation. Henceforth, the court ruled that the allocations should go directly to the accounts of the 774 local councils.
Read the full article here: The Guardian