The general euphoria of endorsements of the Supreme Court’s judgment that granted ‘autonomy’ to local government areas is a disturbing illustration of the fact that Nigerians, especially this federal government have no idea what the country is up against. Only Chief James Ibori and Mr. Donald Duke evaluated the vast implications of the judgment in the suit initiated by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Attorney-General. Both were contemporaneous former governors of Delta and Cross River states at the onset of the Fourth Republic under a constitution nobody had privy knowledge of nor were the people given the privilege to make any input to its structure and content.
Crucially, that constitution became operative under the watch of a former military general, a product of the command and control mentality of the Army. Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, the president that ushered the 1999 constitution, became one of the most powerful presidents in the world with almost limitless powers. The executive powers conferred on him were such that he determined who became the leader of the Legislative arm, the Senate President, as well as the Speaker of the House of the Representatives. Obasanjo had the distinction of enthroning and dethroning four Senate Presidents during his eight-year presidency. His capacity to toss the lawmakers around was such his acolytes called him the chief law maker of the federation
For state governors who constitutionally were designated chief executives of another tier of government that together relinquished parts of their powers to the centre to form a federation were like toys to him. That is how the 1999 constitution deems state governors as demonstrated in the claim that “We the people…” decided to form a country.
Obasanjo saw state governors as toys for him to play with as he wished. They would not dared look in the eye or talk back at him. Ayo Fayose of Ekiti State and late Diepreye Alamieyeseigha of Bayelsa faced the wrath of an all-powerful President Obasanjo.
Obasanjo circumvented constitutional provisions to get a governor he wanted out impeached. Fayose is still living to tell his story
Only a few dared him. Ibori and, remarkably, Tinubu as governor of Lagos State. Even if they got away with it, they suffered some bruises. Ibori wanted Obasanjo to implement the derivation principle that the constitution set aside at least 13 percent for mineral producing states. Obasanjo baulked for many months until the then Delta State Governor used the judiciary to force Obasanjo’s arm. And Ibori entered his black book. For Tinubu, daring to create additional local government areas he christened Local Council Development Areas and trying to wean his Lagos out of the epileptic and anti-development ‘national grid’ as the Governor of a state under an opposition party was something Obasanjo could not brook. The Enron project was successfully killed by Obasanjo’s federal authorities. Even though the Supreme Court Tinubu ran to for reprieve did not deem the creation of LCDAs illegal, the learned justices stopped short of declaring Obasanjo’s unilateral seizure of Lagos Government’s statutory allocations from the Federation Accounts illegal. And the illegal seizure continued until Obasanjo bowed out in 2007.
That is why it is confounding that Tinubu who had hitherto espoused the principle of true federalism seems to be launching a renewed attack on the even the low level federalism in the country. The window to this effort is the general perception that state governors tamper with allocations to local government areas. Under Tinubu’s watch, a strident campaign is in full gear for states to be stripped of the power to organise local government elections. The argument is that state electoral commissions cannot be relied on to hold credible elections. The proof is in the outcomes of council elections in virtually all the states. Perhaps.
But that is not akin to Mungo Park discovering River Nigeria for Europeans. Whether in states controlled by APC or PDP, the outcomes have been predictable. Right from Tinubu’s time in Lagos, PDP or any party never won even a councillor’s seat in any of the Council elections under AC or ACN. It is the same story in all the states.
What we have since the advent of the Fourth Republic is an overbearing, clay-footed and lumbering federal government saddled with over 60 exclusives items on the Legislative List has been the major problem with developing the country. Another Rock’s powers are so enormous that the occupiers of that seat of humongous powers cannot wield them. And when challenged with the wrong deeds, they resort to mischief and arm twisting the opposition.
Proceeding with the proposal with the proposal for Aso Rock to take over the organisation of council elections from states through the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is a recipe for disaster and regression. INEC is not the gold standard for organising credible elections. The video of Tinubu promising to hand over Edo State to APC when they paid him a visit to Aso Rock shortly after he became president is ominous. If he really wants, he can do it. The question is the day after.
In his reaction to the Spreme Court judgment on autonomy for local government areas, Chief James Ibori noted that the ruling “Appears to contradict the explicit provisions of Section 162 of the 1999 Constitution”. According to him, “Section 6 provides additional clarity to the effect that each State shall maintain a special account to be called ‘State Joint Local Government Account’ into which shall be paid all allocations to the Local Government Councils of the State from the Federation Account and from the Government of the State.” While condemning the fiddling of the joint account by governors, the ruling shifts the balance of power to Abuja in a federal arrangement and makes states very subservient to the federal government. “By allowing federal intervention in local government finances, it arguably centralizes more power at the federal level, contrary to the principles of federalism” he warned. This decision could erode state autonomy and nulify the delicate balancing act where States are supposed to have significant control over their internal affairs, including the administration of local governments, in a federal system.
Ibori concluded that the ruling has launched an assault on true federalism. I do not agree. You cannot attack what does not exist. It is plainly an attempt to further remove the little powers stayes enjoy to centralise the country. What Nigeria has had since 1999 was a structure that relied on the benevolence of a presidential emperor. Obasanjo showed the dangers in such arrangement. We may not have the benevolence the federation had under Dr. Goodluck Jonathan.
Under the present federal arrangement, states actually need autonomy and constitutional freedom from Aso Rock.
