Local Government Autonomy: CUPP hails Supreme Court judgment

The Coalition of United Political Parties, CUPP, has hailed the Supreme Court judgment on the abolition of state and local government joint accounts.

The National Secretary of CUPP, Peter Ameh, in a statement after the Court judgment in Abuja on Thursday said, “The judgment will promote accountability and make elected local government chairmen accountable for funds received and if such funds are mismanaged then they can be invited by EFCC and other anti-corruption agencies to render account.

“CUPP totally agrees with the Supreme Court that state governors constituted themselves as dangerous species to the development of democracy in Nigeria especially as it relates to the management of local government funds.

“State governors should allow the State Independent National Electoral Commission (SIECS) the free hand to conduct a free and fair election as the appointment of the caretaker committee is now illegal and unconstitutional, henceforth no governor has the power to appoint a caretaker committee.”

The Coalition of United Political Parties then congratulated Nigerians and the suffering masses in the rural areas for their victory at the Supreme Court.

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By this judgment, the statement stated that the suffering masses have been unshackled financially from the shackles of the governors who have been holding them hostage since 1999 as a result of their warped interpretation of Section 162(6) of the 1999 Constitution as Amended.

“With this judgment of the Supreme Court, it is hoped that meaningful development will begin to trickle to candidates be seen in the rural areas as the inhabitants of all the local governments who hitherto had not have access to their almighty governors will now know who to hold accountable for misappropriated funds accruing to their local government and abuse of office by those in charge of at that level,” the statement opined.

CUPP also hopes that the financial autonomy granted to the local governments by the judgment to be the first step to the devolution of powers shall be accelerated to include fiscal federalism so that every component state in the federation will see the need to think outside of the box, go to work, and stop this monthly beggarly allocation to the states and local governments.

The statement noted that all states have what it takes to survive on their own and become self-sufficient in the generation of resources if the political will is given priority.