By Milcah Tanimu

Mike Ozekhome, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, announced that the recent Supreme Court judgment on Local Government Council Autonomy mandates that the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) will withhold funds from states such as Rivers, Abia, Anambra, Katsina, Zamfara, Akwa Ibom, Cross River, and others with Caretaker Committee (CTC) LGA chairmen.

Ozekhome explained, “The judgment of the government is clear. If you want to receive funds from the federation account, then conduct an election. If what you have in place is a caretaker committee as local government chairman, be sure that it will not have money from the federation account. If you want money from the federation account, such councils must be democratically elected.”

The Supreme Court’s verdict, issued on Thursday, endorses full local government autonomy and mandates that funds from the Federation Account be paid directly to local government accounts. The ruling prevents governors from receiving and manipulating local government allocations and bars them from dissolving democratically elected local government officials, deeming such actions a breach of the 1999 Constitution.

over 18 states in Nigeria currently have Caretaker Committees, including Rivers, Benue, Anambra, Imo, Kwara, Abia, Enugu, Plateau, Zamfara, Katsina, Kano, Sokoto, Yobe, Ondo, Osun, Akwa Ibom, and Cross River.