Chairman of the Progressive Local Government Chairmen’s Forum (PLGCF), the umbrella body local government councils chairmen in the All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr Mustafa Jibril Alheri, has said the Niger State governor, Hon. Umar Bago, and other APC governors are gradually implementing local government autonomy.
Alheri, who is the chairman of Chanchaga local government council of Niger State, made this known while briefing journalists in Abuja.
The Supreme Court, in a judgment in July 2024, granted financial autonomy to the 774 local government councils in a unanimous judgement, upholding a suit brought by the Federal Government to strengthen the independence of local governments in the country.
There are indications that some states were yet to comply with the judgement and implemented the order of the Supreme Court.
Worried by this development, President Bola Tinubu, while speaking last December at the APC National Executive Committee meeting at the State House in Abuja, hinted at resorting to Executive Order to ensure compliance with the judgment of the apex court.
However, the PLGCF chairman told journalists that the APC governors were already complying with the judgment, saying the process had been gradual.
Alheri noted that the relationship between local government chairmen and the state governors in APC controlled states have been very cordial and encouraging.
“I want to use this opportunity to assure you that we have the support of our governors. My own governor, the Governor of Niger State, Farmer Mohammed Umar Bago, is a strong supporter of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and one of the greatest leaders we have had regarding the issue of local government autonomy.
“The President has been pursuing this for a very long time, and a lot of our states, especially the progressive states, are enjoying full autonomy. A lot of states are enjoying full autonomy, and this is a gradual process. It’s a transition process. It’s something that has been going on for a very long time.
“The APC, as a party, has taken it upon itself, through the leadership of the President, to ensure that we get complete and full autonomy.
“In Niger state, we are having all the support that we need from our governor, and most of the states under the Progressive Local Government leadership are also having very good support from their governors. We are transitioning jointly, slowly but surely, towards complete and full autonomy.
“We are in collaboration with our governors. All the things that our governors are doing, we are signatories to them. It’s all for the development of the state, and we believe that surely the dream of Nigerians to see complete and full autonomy will come to pass across the whole of Nigeria, especially if all the other governors who are yet to join the APC eventually join the APC,” he added.
