Under the auspices of the Save Nigerian Democracy Group, or SNDG, a coalition of civil society organisations, or CSOs, criticised Governor Charles Soludo’s stance on the Supreme Court ruling that awarded

complete financial independence for the nation’s 774 Local Government Areas, or LGAs.

The coalition insisted that, in contrast to Governor Soludo’s argument, enabling the LGAs to obtain their allocations straight from the federal account would promote grassroots development in a statement it provided to reporters in Abuja.

It applauded President Bola Tinubu for taking the initiative and said that the ruling will result in “organic rural development that will drive the national development index” because of his “spirited attempts to navigate the country away from its current economic and financial quagmire.”

SNDG expressed concern that rather than concentrating on ways to address the state’s increased insecurity, the governor of Anambra state kept criticising the award of budgetary independence to LGAs.

The National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu, established a new Directorate and named Lami Chinade as the Director of the newly established State Liaison Directorate in the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) in order to lessen Governor Soludo’s ambush against President Tinubu and the Supreme Court through the Anambra State House of Assembly.

The main goal is to make sure that LG money aren’t tampered with in any way.

Unfortunately, he has turned to running a divisive campaign by sitting on appeal over a Supreme Court ruling on LG autonomy rather than confronting the insecurity problems in Anambra.

The fact that Governor Soludo believes the third level of government shouldn’t exist is very perplexing. What’s more concerning is that he had the guts to say that giving the LG financial autonomy will cause anarchy.

It is important to remember that President Tinubu consciously chose to withdraw 10% from the federation account while leaving the States with 90%, even when the world economy is not doing well.

“This goes against everything we were accustomed to before. Normally, this action would force state governors to turn their backs on the LG monies.

Even with all of the President’s actions, some governors are still fixated on LG funding.

In the statement signed by its coordinator, Mr. Cornelius Ajagbe, the CSOs stated, “We are up against this brazenness to bring down the law to achieve this impunity.”

The Nigerian Democratic Movement, Campaign for Greater Nigeria, No Alternative to Peace Initiative, and Advancement of Freedom and Rights of Citizens were among the organisations that were part of the alliance.

As you may remember, on October 15, Governor Soludo signed the Anambra LG Administration Law 2024 and emphasised that giving the 774 local government areas complete authority would result in “humongous chaos” and no sustainable growth.

According to Soludo, the Supreme Court’s ruling did not invalidate Section 7 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, which gave state governments the authority to pass legislation that would facilitate the management of local government regions.