By Festus Ogun
I commend the Federal Government for securing this landmark judgment for the sake our fiscal federalism that state governments have bastardized over the years. With this, we can expect relative sanity in our local government system. That said, here are my preliminary concerns.
1. Local Government Election: Time is now ripe for us to have free, fair and credible local government elections unlike the cherry-picking of local government executive and council members by Governors. If the selection pattern continues, this judgement will serve no real purpose.
2. Fiscal Accountability: For the judgement to serve its purpose, there must be a dependable framework for fiscal accountability and transparency for local government administration. This will include enactment of Freedom of Information law by state governments.
3. Anti-Corruption Agencies: By the time fiscal allocation comes directly to the local government administrators, cases of corruption and misappropriation will likely arise. With 774 LG, EFCC and ICPC will be overwhelmed. So, states need to create its anti-corruption agency.
Oyo and Ogun States already have such agencies. Now, it is time for the agencies to work efficiently to beam light on the fiscal affairs of Local Governments. States must be cautioned to do this with utmost good faith and not deploy it as witch-hunt tool.
Once again, I commend the Honourable Attorney General of the Federation for initiating this Suit. It has cured what the National Assembly has failed to achieve for our country. The Governors must equally accept this judgement in good faith.
Nigeria shall be great in our lifetime.
