LG Autonomy: Ogunye urges FG to open CBN accounts for LGs. By Lai Gidado

LG Autonomy: Ogunye urges FG to open CBN accounts for LGs.

By Lai Gidado

Despite the Supreme Court’s landmark judgment affirming local government autonomy, some state governors have continued to resist its implementation, raising fresh concerns over compliance with the apex court’s ruling.

Discussing the issue on a live television programme, ThisDay Live, anchored by Dr Reuben Abati on Arise News on Sunday evening, a legal practitioner, Mr Jiti Ogunye, suggested that the Federal Government should direct the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to open accounts for all local governments in the country.

Ogunye said the accounts would enable the CBN to pay local government allocations directly from the Federation Account, rather than having the Federal Government resort to litigation against state governments to enforce local government autonomy.

He noted that governors who disobey the Supreme Court’s July 2024 judgment affirming financial autonomy for local governments could not be jailed because they enjoy constitutional immunity from prosecution while in office.

According to him, opening dedicated CBN accounts for the local governments and paying their allocations directly into the accounts would provide a practical way of enforcing the Supreme Court judgment.

He said, “If such accounts are opened by the CBN for the local governments and the Federal Government disburses their allocations, you will see the chairmen of the local governments rushing to the CBN to regularise the accounts.”