ABUJA—MINISTER of State for Finance, Mrs. Nenadi Usman, has declared that the Federal Government will not release the controversial monthly allocations to local governments in Lagos State until the Supreme Court clarifies its recent ruling on the issue. Speaking to journalists at the end of this month’s Federal Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) meeting in Abuja, the minister said although the Federal Government had no intention of delaying the payment unnecessarily, there was need for the Supreme Court to clarify its judgment.
Her words: "I have just been told that the Federal Government has gone to the Supreme Court for clarification. So, it means we would not release the money until we get that clarification. This means that I will have to notify the people there that we are not paying until we get the clarification. I believe the Supreme Court said we should release the money to Lagos State’s local governments as stated in the constitution. The snag is that if we release it to the local governments as stated in the constitution, the Lagos State Government might not be able to pay because some of the local governments that they have, even the names have changed."I don’t know what the state government would do with the money for some local governments whose names have been erased. I am not saying we would not pay, what I am saying is that the state may have problem at their own end sorting it out in compliance with what the Supreme Court says," she said.
The Supreme Court had declared the seizure of the Lagos local councils by the Federal Government unconstitutional, null and void, and ruled that the withheld funds be released to the 20 councils recognised by the constitution.
Following the verdict, the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice was quoted as saying that the Federal Government was ready to release the funds to the affected local governments, as held by the court.However, the Federal Government, last Thursday, filed a fresh application at the Supreme Court seeking clarification of its judgment. Specifically, the Federal Government wanted to know whether the 57 local councils could benefit from the allocations meant for the 20 councils recognised by the 1999 constitution.
The Federal Government wanted the Supreme Court to declare that the only 20 recognised by the constitution could benefit from the allocations and that Lagos State had no power to spend funds meant for the old 20 councils on the 57 newly created ones by the Tinubu administration.
