Dr. Doyin Okupe, the former Director-General of the Labour Party (LP) Presidential Campaign Council, has criticized the Federal Government’s legal action against states concerning local government autonomy.
In an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Lagos on Sunday, Okupe, a former Presidential spokesperson, described the Federal Government’s lawsuit as unnecessary and regrettable.
Okupe, who previously served as the National Publicity Secretary of the defunct National Republican Convention (NRC), argued that the Federal Government’s pursuit of local government autonomy undermines the principles of a true federal system.
“In a genuine federal system, there are only two component units: the federal and the states,” Okupe stated. “Local governments are entirely a matter for the states and should have no involvement from the Federal Government. The notion of local governments as a third tier should be removed from the constitution.”
Okupe emphasized that national funds should be divided solely between the Federal Government and the states, arguing that the Federal Government’s demand for local government autonomy is a misinterpretation of federalism.
“The state government should be able to create as many local governments as it deems necessary for grassroots development and fund them accordingly,” Okupe said.
This criticism comes in response to the Federal Government’s recent lawsuit against the governors of the 36 states at the Supreme Court, accusing them of interfering in local council administration. The suit, filed by Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, seeks full autonomy for all local government areas in the country.
The Federal Government is requesting the Supreme Court to prohibit state governors from unlawfully dissolving democratically elected local government leaders and to ensure that funds allocated to local governments are directly transferred from the federation account, bypassing the alleged unlawful joint accounts created by governors.
Additionally, the suit seeks an injunction to prevent governors from establishing caretaker committees to manage local governments, contrary to the constitutionally mandated democratic system.
