IPAC Chair Says Supreme Court judgment Will Bring People Closer to Government
From: Edirin Robinson
The Chairman of the Kaduna State Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC), Hon. Ahmed Tijjani Mustapha has said
the ruling of the Supreme Court granting financial autonomy to Local Government Areas will bring governance closer to the People.
He asserted this while speaking to the media in Kaduna today
According to him, the judgment is erudite and a victory for the grassroots.
Hon. Ahmed Tijjani Mustapha observed that all that is required now is to have capable, creative, bold, and strategic people manning the local governments.”
He also encouraged the citizens to actively participate in grassroots politics to bring “much-needed governance closer to the people”.
” The framers of the constitution who created the local government system had intended that being closer to the people, they would bring development to the doorsteps of the people, especially in the areas of basic amenities such as health, rural roads, and water.”
The IPAC Chairman added that the supreme court judgment was “one of the great things that President Bola Tinubu would do for the country, noting that as a deep-rooted grassroots politician, he knows that the liberation would go a long way in solving both the festering problems of insecurity and hunger in the country
All we require now is to have capable, creative, bold, and strategic people manning the local governments.”
He also encouraged the citizens to actively participate in grassroots politics to bring “much-needed governance closer to the people”.
“Learning from these previous failures, taking this unconventional step of instituting this case could be the most popular decision of President Tinubu’s administration so far,” he said.
“The case gives clear expression to latent provisions of the constitution on the financial autonomy of LGs.”
It would be recalled that the Supreme Court held that the federal government should henceforth pay allocations directly to local government councils from the federation account.
A seven-member panel of justices ruled that state governments have continued to abuse their powers by retaining and using the funds meant for LGAs.
The apex court also ordered the federal government to withhold allocations of LGs governed by unelected officials appointed by the governor.
