A chieftain of the Al Progressives Congress (APC), Joe Igbokwe believes that President Bola Tinubu is gradually restructuring the country without making much noise.

He shared this opinion in a post on his Facebook page on Wednesday, July 17, 2024.

According to Igbokwe, some governors are displeased with the Local Government Autonomy, as several states that have not conducted LGA elections in years are now rushing to do so.

He wrote, “PBAT is gradually and seamlessly restructuring Nigeria without noise. Some States that have not held LGA elections for 24 years are rushing now to do Elections. Almost all the 36 Governors are not happy about LGA Autonomy. Why?”

Recall that the Supreme Court recently granted financial autonomy to the councils, freeing them from the control of the governors.

The court ruled that the governors’ retention of local government funds violated the 1999 constitution. The judgment affirmed the constitutional right of democratically elected local government councils, as outlined in section 7 of the 1999 Constitution.

The ruling stated that local governments should receive their funds directly from the Federation Account, bypassing state governments.

Justice Emmanuel Agim, who delivered the lead judgment, stated, “I hold that the state’s retention of local government funds is unconstitutional.

“The demands of justice require a progressive interpretation of the law. It is the court’s position that the federation can pay LGA allocations directly to the LGAs or pay through the states.

“In this instance, since paying through states has not been effective, the justice of this case dictates that LGA allocations from the federation account should now be paid directly to the LGAs.”

This decision aims to limit the financial control that state governments have wielded and prevent the mismanagement and diversion of funds intended for local development.