ABEOKUTA – The President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Mazi Afam Osigwe, SAN, today called on all state governors who have not complied with Supreme Court rulings to immediately allow local governments access to their statutory funds, warning that failure to do so undermines democracy and the rule of law.
Speaking in an exclusive interview on Frontline, a current and public affairs programme on Eagle 102.5 FM, Ilese Ijebu, on Tuesday, Osigwe described the obstruction of local government autonomy as symptomatic of a deeper issue in Nigeria’s governance: the widespread disregard for legal and constitutional obligations.
On July 11, 2024, the Supreme Court of Nigeria delivered a landmark judgment affirming the financial autonomy of all 774 Local Government Areas (LGAs). The ruling declared that allocations meant for local governments must be paid directly from the Federation Account to the LGAs, and that state governors and the FCT Minister cannot withhold or control these funds.
The court emphasized that the constitutional independence of LGAs must be respected to ensure proper governance and service delivery at the grassroots level.
Despite repeated calls from President Bola Tinubu and other quarters, many state governors have failed to comply with the judgment, continuing to channel LGA funds through state-controlled accounts.
On the stalling of local government access to funds, Osigwe said: “If the law says pay it into the accounts of the local government, and the Supreme Court has now said pay it directly to them, and nobody is respecting it, it speaks volumes about our attitude to governance, and our attitude to judicial pronouncements. The federal government has a duty, the Attorney General of the President has a duty to enforce it.”
He criticized state governors who resist court decisions, highlighting the political and financial interests often at play.
“Our problem is our penchant for disobeying laws, for acting as if the laws are not binding on us, especially when we have executive powers. Acting as if laws are meant for the weak and the poor, while those in power disregard them, is what prevents progress.”
Osigwe, the 32nd President of the NBA expanded on the broader constitutional challenges in Nigeria, arguing that laws fail not because they are poorly written, but because of attitude.
“Laws do not enforce themselves. The efficacy of any law depends on the operator, the attitude of the people, and the attitude of judicial officers who are saddled with the responsibility of applying it. You can make the best constitutions, but if you don’t have the best of attitudes towards it, the constitution will not work.”
According to him, even the best-written constitutions will fail if there is no commitment to uphold them.
“The efficacy otherwise of any law depends on the operator, depends on the attitude of the people, and also on the attitude of the judicial officers who are saddled with the responsibility of operating it. And then the members of the executive who are saddled with the responsibility of executing and enforcing the provisions of the law. You can make the best constitutions, but if you don’t have the best of attitudes towards it, the constitution will not work.”
He further explained that, in Nigeria, the constitution contains extensive provisions covering a wide range of circumstances, stressing that its success relies on how citizens and politicians engage with it, how they approach governance, and the collective responsibility of Nigerians to protect and ensure the constitution functions as intended.
These human factors, he argued, are what ultimately make a constitution work.
“So when you talk about Nigeria, the constitution has made copious provisions about different situations and circumstances. It depends on us to know how best to put this constitution to use to build a nation, and the attitude of the people, and how politicians approach it, and how Nigerians view it, and how we view Nigeria as a collective entity in which we all have an interest in protecting and ensuring that it works. These are factors that make a constitution work.”
He added that even a constitution inherited from military regimes, such as the 1999 Constitution, has sufficient provisions to guide governance:
“Whether you overhaul this constitution and bring a new one, which in any case will reproduce most of the provisions we have in the current world, and the operators still will not respect it, will not obey it, and will not do allegiance to the constitution, no constitution you pass will work. It’s not about what constitution you have, it’s about our attitude towards that constitution.”
“For example, the constitution has said in section 14-2 that the welfare and security of the people would be the primary aim of government. How government at the local, government, state, and federal level enforce this part of it will go a long way in ensuring the safety of the people and how the society works. So it is not the law.”
