Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, the African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate for 2027, has promised to implement the Supreme Court ruling that granted financial autonomy to Nigeria’s 774 local government areas if he becomes president.
In a statement issued on Tuesday by spokesperson Kenneth Okonkwo, Atiku said money meant for local governments from the Federation Account would be paid directly to the councils instead of passing through state governments.
The Supreme Court ruled on 11 July 2024 that council funds should go straight to the local governments, after a case brought by the Federal Government against the 36 state governors. Some states have not fully applied the judgment.
Atiku said he would follow the ruling strictly and make local government autonomy central to grassroots development. “My administration will respect court judgments, protect local government autonomy, ensure that public funds reach the people for whom they are meant, and restore true federalism,” he said. Direct access to funds, he argued, would give councils more capacity to deliver basic services and projects, and could improve security and reduce poverty at the local level.
He accused President Bola Tinubu’s administration of failing to enforce the judgment and claimed the government had avoided confronting some All Progressives Congress (APC) governors because council funds were being used as an inducement for support in the 2027 race.
The statement said the current administration had not enforced the July 2024 ruling “seemingly to avoid confronting the gluttonous APC state governors who previously controlled these funds.”
The pledge turns a court order that already exists into a campaign commitment. The structural issue is enforcement, not the absence of law. Whether allocations reach councils depends on federal willingness to confront state houses that have long treated local government money as part of their fiscal space.
Atiku’s accusation is a political claim about motive; the verifiable test, for this administration or any successor, remains whether the Federation Account payments land in council accounts as the court required.
