Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has accused President Bola Tinubu of deliberately refusing to implement a binding Supreme Court judgment that guarantees direct allocation of funds to Nigeria’s 774 local government councils, describing the inaction as a “calculated political defiance” of the Constitution.
Atiku, the 2023 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), made the allegation on Wednesday in a statement posted on his verified X (formerly Twitter) handle, where he warned that the continued non-implementation of the judgment amounts to a breach of the President’s oath of office.
The Supreme Court, on July 11, 2024, in a landmark ruling delivered by a seven-man panel led by Justice Mohammed Garba, affirmed the financial autonomy of local governments and ordered that allocations from the Federation
Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) be paid directly to them. The apex court also nullified the practice by some state governments of dissolving democratically elected local council administrations.
However, more than a year after the ruling, Atiku alleged that the Tinubu administration had failed to enforce the judgment, insisting that the delay was neither accidental nor bureaucratic.
“By July next year, your administration will have spent two full years deliberately ignoring a binding judgment of the Supreme Court directing the Federal Government to implement direct FAAC allocation to local governments,” Atiku wrote.
“This is not a delay. It is defiance. Your refusal to act is a calculated political move, using obedience to the law as a bargaining chip to coerce opposition governors into the APC and to keep governors within your party under firm control,” he added.
The former Vice President argued that Supreme Court judgments are final and non-negotiable, stressing that selective enforcement undermines the rule of law and weakens Nigeria’s constitutional democracy.
According to him, the real victims of the federal government’s inaction are ordinary Nigerians at the grassroots, not state governors.
“Local governments are the closest arm of government to the people. By withholding their financial autonomy, you are not weakening governors; you are crippling communities, stalling development and deepening poverty at the grassroots,” Atiku said.
He listed deteriorating rural roads, abandoned primary healthcare centres and unpaid local government workers’ salaries as consequences of what he described as a deliberate policy choice rather than administrative failure.
Atiku also faulted what he called the contradiction between the Tinubu administration’s public endorsement of local government autonomy and its alleged refusal to enforce the Supreme Court ruling in practice.
“This situation does not require executive orders or political drama. The solution is simple: instruct the Attorney-General of the Federation to enforce the judgment immediately. Anything short of this is a failure of leadership,” he stated.
He warned that history would judge the administration harshly if it continues to place partisan interests above constitutional duty, adding that Nigerians would not forget what he described as a critical moment for the rule of law.
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