The pan-Yoruba socio-political association, Afenifere, has condemned the Supreme Court’s decision to grant financial autonomy to local governments in Nigeria.
The ruling, delivered on Thursday, declared it unconstitutional for state governors to control funds allocated to local government administrations.
Afenifere, through its leader Chief Ayo Adebanjo and National Public Secretary Prince Justice Faloye, described the judgment as a “judicial conspiracy.” In a statement titled “Tinubu and the Grand Conspiracy Against Democracy and True Federalism in Nigeria,” the group criticized the court’s decision as a move against the principles of true federalism.
“The Supreme Court played to the gallery and wittingly allowed itself a most retrogressive declaration,” Afenifere said. The group argued that the judgment undermines Nigeria’s foundational federal principles, which recognize a two-tier structure consisting of the central government and federating states.
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Afenifere also accused the current administration of President Bola Tinubu of promoting a unitary system. “It is becoming stridently eloquent that with just over a year of its inauguration, the Tinubu government, more than even the military administrations, is uncannily determined to unitarise the Nigerian Federation,” the group stated.
The association expressed concern over the creation of the Ministry of Livestock Development, which it sees as a reintroduction of controversial policies like cattle colonies. “This is contrary to the provisions of the Land Use Act and the Constitution, which vest land in the state in the Governor in trust for the people,” Afenifere argued.
Afenifere insists that the only way forward for Nigeria is a holistic restructuring to uphold true federalism. “The local government system is an exclusive preserve of the states, either by direct constitutional provisions or residual powers in a federation,” the group concluded.