THE SUPREME COURT DECISION AND ITS IMPACT ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT AUTONOMY AND GOVERNANCE IN NIGERIA

Abstract

Local government autonomy had long remained one of the most debated and
unsettled aspects of Nigeria’s constitutional practice. The constitutional promise of
a three-tier federal structure was intended to ensure functional independence of
local councils; however, successive judicial interpretations, political interference,
and structural ambiguities had diluted that intention. The Supreme Court’s decision
in A.G Federation v. A.G Abia State and 35 Others (2024) marked a significant
milestone in the jurisprudence on intergovernmental relations. This paper critically
examined the legal and institutional implications of that judgment and assessed its
impact on the autonomy of local governments within Nigeria’s federal framework.
The principal aim of the study was to evaluate the extent to which the Supreme
Court’s pronouncement had either reinforced or weakened the constitutional
guarantees of local government self-governance. The study further established that
political expediency and institutional inertia had constrained the effective
enforcement of judicial pronouncements intended to secure local government
independence. Consequently, the dissertation recommended a constitutional
amendment expressly guaranteeing the fiscal and administrative autonomy of local
councils, the abolition or reform of the Joint Account system, and the establishment
of an independent oversight body to monitor inter-governmental fiscal transfers. It
also advocated for a more purposive interpretative approach by the judiciary, one
that privileged the spirit of devolution over the convenience of central control. In
conclusion, the study affirmed that genuine local government autonomy was
indispensable to democratic consolidation and sustainable development in Nigeria.
It posited that only through coherent constitutional reform, judicial assertiveness,
and administrative accountability could the vision of grassroots self-government
be fully realised.