The National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) has called on President Bola Tinubu to urgently direct the implementation of the Supreme Court judgment granting financial autonomy to Nigeria's 774 local governments. The union argues that the responsibility for executing the ruling lies with the Federal Government, not state governors.
The Supreme Court, in a unanimous ruling on July 11, 2024, held that local government councils across the country must receive their allocations directly from the Accountant-General of the Federation. The seven-member panel, led by Justice Emmanuel Agim, declared it unconstitutional for state governments to retain those funds.
NULGE Clears Governors, Pressures Tinubu
NULGE President General, Comrade Aliyu Kankara, told Nigerian Tribune over the weekend that governors should not be held responsible for the delay. "For this one, I don't blame state governors for the non-implementation of this judgment," he said.
Kankara pressed the President to act "as a matter of urgency," warning that the continued standstill was deepening the development deficit in rural communities. He argued that local government autonomy was not a workers' issue alone but one that affected all Nigerians, pointing to the widening governance gap at the grassroots level.
He also said NULGE remained prepared to return to the Supreme Court to seek enforcement of the judgment if other options failed. President Tinubu had, in December 2024, threatened to issue an Executive Order to compel compliance while addressing an All Progressives Congress National Executive Committee meeting.
NLC Raises Alarm Over Corruption and Insecurity
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) added its voice to the pressure, with spokesperson Comrade Benson Upah warning that the delay had grown "consequential and unacceptable." Upah suggested the inaction reflected either a post-judgment arrangement between the Federal and state governments or undue pressure from the states on Abuja.
He alleged that corruption was "mutating" in state and local government finances and linked the governance shortfall at the local level to rising insecurity and poverty. Upah warned that the federal government's continued inaction could force a revival of the suspended labour campaign.
NGF: Governors Have No Hand in LG Funds
The Nigeria Governors' Forum (NGF) pushed back against claims that state governors were blocking or interfering with local government allocations. NGF Director of Media and Strategic Communications, Dr Yunusa Tanko Abdullahi, said in an interview with Nigerian Tribune that disbursement from the Federation Account to local government councils was now entirely outside the control of state governments.
Abdullahi said the July 2024 Supreme Court ruling made that position clear, reaffirming that the process of direct payment to councils was the Federal Government's obligation to execute. Legit.ng earlier reported that President Bola Tinubu had threatened to invoke the power of the executive order of the presidency in granting financial autonomy to local governments in Nigeria.
He issued the threat while speaking at the 15th APC NEC meeting at the State House in Abuja on December 19, 2025, calling on governors to act swiftly before he was forced to step in.
