The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is prohibited from withholding funds from the state’s 44 local government areas (LGAs). A high court in Kano State has issued a permanent order.
The ruling, delivered by Justice Ibrahim Musa-Muhammad, came after an ex parte motion filed on November 1 by the National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE), Ibrahim Muhammed, and five others. The respondents were asked to stop withholding or putting off local governance-essential allocations in the motion.
Among the respondents were the accountant-general of the federation (AGF), the CBN, the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), the 44 Kano LGAs, and several commercial banks, including United Bank for Africa and Access Bank.
In order to prevent the CBN and AGF from withholding funds from the 44 LGAs while the lawsuit was being resolved, the court issued an interim order in November. Delivering his final judgment on Monday, Justice Musa-Muhammad ruled in favor of the applicants, affirming that they had established their case.
“The AGF, CBN, and RMAFC are under a duty to disburse monthly allocations to the 44 LGAs as democratically elected local government councils”, the judge declared.
He added that citing provisions of the Nigerian Constitution, withholding the allocations would violate residents’ fundamental rights in the 44 local government councils.
“A declaration that withholding these allocations would amount to a breach of the fundamental rights of the residents, inhabitants in the 44 local government councils, as guaranteed under Sections 33, 42, 43, 44, 45, and 46 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended)”, the ruling stated.
Justice Musa-Muhammad also made reference to the provisions of the African Charter for Human and Peoples’ Rights, noting that the 44 LGAs’ exclusion from the distribution of federation accounts contradicts its terms.
“It would be wrong according to Articles 13, 19, 22, and 24 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples ‘ Rights for the AGF, CBN, and RMAFC to exclude the 44 LGAs in the distribution of funds accruing from the Federation Account, in line with Section 162 (3) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended)”, he said.
The court’s decision strengthens the constitutional requirement that all 44 LGAs in Kano have financial autonomy and must distribute local government funds without any interference.
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NULGE, Others Hail Verdict
The decision, which upholds the constitutional rights of local governments, has been welcomed by Kano’s legal community.
Speaking on the judgment, NULGE chairman Ibrahim Muhammed hailed it as a victory for grassroots governance.
He said, “This decision is a significant step toward ensuring that local governments are given their constitutional rights without the interference of any political or bureaucratic interference.”
A senior legal practitioner, Barrister Amina Yusuf, described the judgment as “a reinforcement of the principle of fiscal federalism”.
Source: Channels TV
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