Why ‘Executive Order’ Threat To Enforce Local Government Autonomy Misses The Point—Governor Makinde

<h4>Why<&sol;h4>&NewLine;<h4>&NewLine;<strong><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;openlife&period;ng&sol;">OpenLife Nigeria<&sol;a> <&sol;strong>reports that President Bola Tinubu on Friday&comma; December 19&comma; warned state governors that he may be compelled to issue an Executive Order to ensure direct allocations to local governments if they fail to comply with a Supreme Court ruling affirming financial autonomy for Nigeria’s third tier of government&period;<&sol;h4>&NewLine;<h4>The president delivered the warning during the 15th National Executive Committee &lpar;NEC&rpar; meeting of the All Progressives Congress &lpar;APC&rpar; held at the State House Conference Centre in Abuja&comma; attended by governors&comma; National Working Committee members&comma; and other party leaders&period;<&sol;h4>&NewLine;<h4>Mr Tinubu had earlier sounded a similar warning at the APC’s 14th National Caucus meeting on Thursday&comma; emphasising that local government autonomy cannot be achieved without a funded mandate&period;<&sol;h4>&NewLine;<h4>Reiterating his earlier directive&comma; the president said non-compliance by state governments could force the federal government to directly release funds to local councils through the Federation Account Allocation Committee &lpar;FAAC&rpar;&period;<&sol;h4>&NewLine;<h4><em><strong>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;The Supreme Court has capped it for you again&comma; saying&comma; &OpenCurlyQuote;give them their money directly&comma;’” Mr Tinubu told NEC members&period; <&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;h4>&NewLine;<h4><em><strong>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;If you wait for my Executive Order&comma; because I have the knife&comma; I have the yam&comma; I will cut it&period; I’m just being very respectful and understanding with my governors&period; Otherwise&comma; if you don’t start to implement it&comma; FAAC after FAAC you will see&period;”<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;h4>&NewLine;<h4>The president’s remarks follow the landmark Supreme Court ruling of 11 July&comma; 2024&comma; which upheld a federal government suit seeking to enforce <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;thisdaylive&period;com&sol;">financial independence<&sol;a> for local governments&period; In a unanimous decision&comma; a seven-member panel declared it unconstitutional for state governments to retain or manage funds meant for local councils&period;<&sol;h4>&NewLine;<figure id&equals;"attachment&lowbar;31647" aria-describedby&equals;"caption-attachment-31647" style&equals;"width&colon; 300px" class&equals;"wp-caption alignnone"><img class&equals;"size-medium wp-image-31647" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;openlife&period;ng&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2025&sol;12&sol;nigeria&lowbar;2-300x246&period;jpg" alt&equals;"Why &OpenCurlyQuote;Executive Order’ Threat To Enforce Local Government Autonomy Misses The Point---Governor Makinde" width&equals;"300" height&equals;"246" &sol;><figcaption id&equals;"caption-attachment-31647" class&equals;"wp-caption-text"><strong><em>Map of Nigeria &&num;8211&semi; Vector illustration<&sol;em><&sol;strong><&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;<h4>The court ordered that allocations from the Federation Account be paid directly to local governments&comma; as provided under Section 162 &lpar;5–8&rpar; of the Constitution&period;<&sol;h4>&NewLine;<h4>Despite the ruling&comma; many state governments have continued to channel local government funds through joint accounts&comma; a practice the apex court deemed unlawful&period;<&sol;h4>&NewLine;<h4>Mr Tinubu stressed the importance of compliance&comma; warning that continued violations could trigger federal intervention&period;<&sol;h4>&NewLine;<h4>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;The ultimate goal is our Supreme Court&period; We have to comply&period; We have to respect the judgment&comma;” he said&comma; underlining the administration’s commitment to enforcing local government financial autonomy&period;<&sol;h4>&NewLine;<p>Reacting during a live interview&comma; governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State explained why President Tinubu’s threat of Executive Order to compel governor’s compliance on Local Government autonomy misses the point&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>According to him&comma; <em><strong>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;So many inconsistencies here&period; For instance&comma; they created LCDAs in Lagos&period; Is that consistent with local government autonomy&quest; <&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>&&num;8220&semi;What are you saying when you have created LCDAs&quest; Are you not saying that the local government should be under the state&quest; So how come now suddenly…&quest;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>&&num;8220&semi;So I know there’s a Supreme Court judgment on this matter&comma; but some of these things may not be resolved strictly through the judicial process&period; Some&comma; you have to negotiate a political solution and things like that&period; <&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>&&num;8220&semi;I think this will fall into that category where people should honestly come to the table and say we have issues with this area or that area&period; We can’t keep shifting&period; <&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>&&num;8220&semi;If you are at the sub-national level&comma; you take one position&period; If you’re at the federal level&comma; you take another position&period; I don’t think that should be it&period;”<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;