By Ovie Okpare
Afenifere, a pan socio-cultural group of the Yoruba Nation, has backed the position of former Delta State Governor, Chief James Ibori, on his comment on the judgement of the Supreme Court granting financial autonomy to local government councils in the country.
The Yoruba influential body flayed the judgement which amongst other things barred governors from operating joint account as well as lacking the power to dissolve democratically elected local government chairmen.
The Supreme Court on Thursday declared it unconstitutional for state governors to hold funds allocated for local government administrations.
The apex court further declared that a state government has no power to appoint a caretaker committee and a local government council is only recognisable with a democratically elected government.
Following the judgement, Ibori faulted the judgement, noting that judgement will impede the spirit of true federalism as enshrined in the country’s constitution.
The former Delta State Governor maintained that the judgement negates the foundational principles of federalism, adding that Nigeria is a federating unit between the federal and the states.
However, Afenifere, while reacting to the apex court ruling for the first time since the judgement was delivered, faulted it and described it as a ‘judicial conspiracy” against the constitution.
Afenifere, in a statement on Saturday, by its leader and the National Public Secretary, Chief Ayo Adebanjo, and Prince Justice Faloye, described the apex court judgement as a mere judicial conspiracy.
The statement was titled ‘Tinubu and the grand conspiracy against democracy and true federalism in Nigeria.’
The statement read, “Afenifere views the judgment of the Supreme Court in the case filed by the Federal Government on the so-called local government autonomy as a sheer judicial conspiracy in cahoots with the Tinubu administration against the Nigerian state and its foundational principles of federalism.
“Rather than interpret the constitution to uphold its elementary but overriding federal principle which recognises only a two-tier federal structure of the central government and federating states, the Supreme Court played to the gallery and wittingly allowed itself a most retrogressive declaration that the power of the government is portioned into three arms of government, the federal, the state and the local government.
“For the avoidance of any doubt, Afenifere makes bold to say that in line with its negotiated basis of existence, Nigeria is a ‘Federation consisting of States and a Federal Capital Territory’. as affirmed by Section 2 (2) of the 1999 constitution. While Afenifere frowns at corruption and misuse of public funds at levels of government, it condemns in most unmistaken terms the subjugation of the states and their constitutional roles including the local government system to the whims and caprices of the federal government by any means including obvious manipulation of the federation account as in the present case.”
The group also alleged that the ongoing administration of Tinubu had been practising a unitary system in some of its policies since its inception. It maintained that the only way forward for the country was to practice true federalism.
“It is becoming stridently eloquent that with just over a year of its inauguration, the Tinubu government, more than even the military administrations, is uncannily determined to unitarise the Nigerian Federation.
“Part of the unitary package is the creation of the Ministry of Livestock Development which is the audacious euphemism for the re-introduction of cattle colony, RUGA and those other policies by which the Buhari administration sought to appropriate lands in the states contrary to the provisions of the Land Use Act and the Constitution which vest land in the state in the Governor in trust for the people.
“Afenifere insists that the way forward for Nigeria is not the confusing rudderless tinkering but a holistic restructuring of the polity to re-enact the fundamental principles of true federalism as agreed by the founding fathers. This includes the fact that the local government system is an exclusive preserve of the states, either by direct constitutional provisions or residual powers in a federation,” the group submitted.
