A former governor of Delta State, James Ibori, has criticised the Supreme Court ruling on the financial autonomy of the local government areas in the country.
The Supreme Court in a judgement on Thursday, ruled that the federal government should henceforth pay allocations directly to local government councils from the federation account.
The seven-member panel of justices declared that it is unconstitutional for state governors to hold onto funds meant for Local Government (LG) administrations.
Also, the apex court ordered that the Federal Government should withhold allocations of LGAs governed by unelected officials appointed by the governor.
In his reaction to the judgment in a post on his X page, Ibori said the ruling is a setback on true federalism, adding that the decision contravenes section 162(3) of the 1999 Constitution.
According to him, the Federal Government “has no right to interfere with the administration of LGAs under any guise whatsoever”.
The former Delta governor said he is opposed to fiddling with the allocations to the Joint LG Accounts at the state level, “but that in itself does not call for this death knell to the clear provisions of section 162 of the constitution.”
