Prominent human rights activist and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Femi Falana, has urged Nigerians to vigilantly monitor the activities of local government officials. This call to action follows a landmark Supreme Court judgment mandating the Federal Government to directly disburse funds to local government accounts.
In a judgment delivered by Justice Emmanuel Agim on Thursday, the Supreme Court criticized the long-standing resistance of state governments to financial autonomy for local governments. The ruling requires the Federal Government to ensure immediate direct payment of local government funds to their respective accounts.
Appearing on Channels Television’s flagship programme, Sunrise Daily, on Friday, Falana emphasized the importance of citizen oversight for political stability and security. “The judgment is going to advance the struggle for accountability if Nigerians can own the system,” Falana stated. “If Nigerians can prepare to monitor the activities of local government officials, state government officials, and federal government officials—this is the only way we can have political stability and security in our country.”
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Falana expressed strong support for the Supreme Court’s decision, clarifying that it aims to enhance grassroots accountability rather than diminish state influence over local government areas. He highlighted his long-term involvement in the local government autonomy movement, tracing its origins to the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
“The battle started in 2004 when former President Olusegun Obasanjo ordered the confiscation of local government funds in Lagos State due to new local government areas created by the Bola Tinubu administration,” Falana recounted. “Lagos State stood its ground and won the case at the Supreme Court, establishing that the president had no power to seize local government statutory allocations.”
Falana noted that subsequent legislative actions by the National Assembly to monitor local government funds were challenged by state governments, leading to a Supreme Court ruling that the federal government lacked the authority to oversee these funds. This legal backdrop, he argued, has resulted in widespread diversion of local government funds by state governments since 1999.
“This was what informed the decision of the federal government to seek the Supreme Court’s intervention again. The implementation of this judgment now rests with the Nigerian people,” Falana asserted. “It is up to the public to actualize the terms of the judgment for the benefit of our communities.”
Falana concluded by underscoring the need for transparent local government elections, criticizing the historical manipulation by state governments that ensures ruling party candidates dominate local government positions.
