Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi SAN, has filed a suit with number SC/CV/343/2024, on behalf of the Federal Government, at the Nigerian supreme Court, against the 36 state governors in the country while seeking full autonomy for local governments.
The AGF, in the suit, urged the apex court to issue an order, prohibiting state governors from unilateral, arbitrary and unlawful dissolution of democratically elected LG leaders.
The suit which is predicated on 27 grounds, contended that Nigeria as a federation, is a creation of the 1999 Constitution with the President, as the head of the Federal Executive arm of the Federation, and has sworn to uphold and give effects to the provisions of the Constitution.
In the suit which accused the state governors of gross misconduct and abuse of power, the AGF sued them through their respective state Attorney-Generals.
The AGF prayed that the Supreme Court for an order to allow the credits of LGs to be directly paid to them from the Federation Account in line with the provisions of the Constitution as against the alleged unlawful joint accounts created by governors.
Fagbemi also applied for an order of injunction restraining the governors, their agents and privies from receiving, spending or tampering with funds released from the Federation Account for the benefit of LGs.
Nigerian government further sought an order stopping governors from constituting caretaker committees to run the affairs of LGs as against the constitutionally-recognised and guaranteed democratic system.
The AGF, on this ground, asked the Supreme court to invoke Sections 1, 4, 5, 7 and 14 of the Constitution to declare that the state governors and State Houses of Assembly are under obligation to ensure a democratic system at the third tier of government in Nigeria and to also invoke the same sections to hold that the governors cannot lawfully dissolve democratically elected local government councils.
The court has fixed Thursday, May 30, 2024, for hearing.