The Federal Government has taken legal action against 36 states in the Supreme Court regarding the autonomy of local governments.
The lawsuit, identified as SC/CV/343/2024, was officially lodged on May 20 by the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), acting on behalf of the federal government.
The federal government is requesting the Supreme Court to issue a directive preventing state governors from unilaterally, arbitrarily, and unlawfully removing democratically elected officials from local governments.
The petitioner also requested the Supreme Court to authorize the direct transfer of funds allocated to local governments from the federation account, in accordance with the Constitution. This is in contrast to the purportedly illegal joint accounts established by governors.
It called for a directive to prevent governors from establishing interim committees to manage local government operations, in violation of the constitutionally mandated democratic system.
The government seeks a court order to prevent the governors, their representatives, and associates from accessing, utilizing, or interfering with funds allocated from the Federation Account meant for the local governments in states where a democratically elected local government system is not established.
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