The federal government is considering taking action against at least eight governors due to their inability to hold local government elections in their states.
Lateef Fagbemi, the attorney general of the federation and minister of justice, explained that this course of action comes after the states were unable to meet the federal government’s October 31 deadline set for the implementation of a Supreme Court ruling.
The Supreme Court has emphasized the importance of financial autonomy for local governments and has instructed the federal government to withhold allocations from any local governments that have not conducted their elections. This move aims to encourage compliance and uphold democratic processes at the local level.…CONTINUE READING
According to Fagbemi, there was no going back on the implementation of the Supreme Court judgment that granted autonomy to local government.
The Punch reported that no less than 146 local governments in eight states are yet to conduct local government elections.
There are also reports that October 31 set as the deadline to commence the implementation of the Supreme Court judgment and states that refusing to comply would stop their local governments from getting their federal allocations.
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Below is the full list of the eight states and their governors:
Governor Aiyedatiwa of Ondo
Ondo state governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa may be sanctioned, going by Fagbemi’s words. The governor, who is contesting in the November 16 governorship election in the state on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has not conducted a council election despite approaching the deadline
Recall that Ondo state has shifted its local government election four times. The council poll was first scheduled for December 16, 2023, before being shifted to February 17, 2024.
The poll was later postponed to July 13, 2024, before its indefinite suspension. However, on August 30, the Ondo State Independent Electoral Commission (ODIEC) announced that the election would be conducted on January 18, 2025.
Ondo state has 18 local governments.
Adeleke of Osun state
Despite the Supreme Court judgment, Ademola Adeleke of Osun was one of the governors who had yet to conduct local government elections in his state
Despite the Supreme Court judgment, the Osun State Independent Electoral Commission, OSSIEC, announced that the local government election will be held on February 22, 2025. The state has 30 local governments.
Dikko of Katsina state
Like Osun, the northwest state has fixed the local government elections to February 15, 2025, despite the Supreme Court ruling earlier in 2024.
This means that Governor Umar Dikko Radda may delay the 34 local governments in Katsina from getting their federal allocations should it begin the implementation of the apex court judgment by October.
Bassey Otu of Cross River
Governor Bassey Otu of Cross River was yet to conduct local government elections in the south-south state. This means that the 18 local governments in the state may not receive a federal allocation until after the November 2, 2024, local government elections in the state.
Alex Otti of Abia
Abia state is another state where the local government election was yet to be held.
The southeast state will conduct its council poll by November 2 under the governorship of Alex Otti of the Labour Party.
Other states
The remaining states are Ogun, Nasarawa and Zamfara of Governors Dapo Abiodun, Abdullahi Sule and Dauda Lawal.
They planned to hold local government elections on November 16, 2 and 16, respectively.
Ogun state has 20 local governments, Nasarawa has 14, and Zamfara has 14.
