State House, Abuja – President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is currently in a closed-door meeting with some governors at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The Thursday meeting which is coming after the Supreme Court judgement affirmed the constitutional autonomy of local government areas in the country, started immediately after the President met with the leaders of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC).
As reported by Daily Trust, Vice-President Kashim Shettima is also attending the meeting holding at the president’s office.
As reported by ThisDay, governors at the meeting were the chairman of the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF), AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq of Kwara); Charles Soludo of Anambra; and Usman Ododo of Kogi.
At the moment, TimesNow.com.ng could not immediately ascertain the agenda of the meeting, but there are strong indications that it might not be unconnected with the Supreme Court judgement on Local Government autonomy.
On Thursday, July 11, the Supreme Court had ruled that the federal government led by Tinubu should pay monies due to the Local Governments from the Federation Account directly to the third tier of government.
The apex court also prevented the 36 state governors from dissolving democratically elected LG councils in the country.
Justice Emmanuel Agim said dissolving democratically elected LG councils amount to a breach of the 1999 Constitution.
Earlier, TimesNow.com.ng reported that the Supreme Court has finally granted full autonomy to local government operations in Nigeria in its judgement on a suit filed by President Bola Tinubu-led federal government.
Okanlawon Gaffar, a legal practitioner, in an interview with TimesNow.com.ng, identified two things involved in the development.
The lawyer said Nigeria has weak federalism, adding that this why the local government operations have been relying state governments.
Source: TimesNow.com.ng
