APC chieftain urges Otti to obey Supreme Court ruling on LG autonomy

 

A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Abia State, Paul Ikonne, has called on Governor Alex Otti to comply fully with the Supreme Court judgment granting financial autonomy to local governments.

Ikonne, a former Executive Secretary of the National Agricultural Land Development Authority (NALDA), made the call during an interview on Politics Tonight aired on TVC, following President Bola Tinubu’s directive to state governors to ensure that statutory allocations are paid directly to local government councils.

On December 19, President Tinubu had urged governors to immediately implement the Supreme Court ruling on local government autonomy. He further warned that an executive order could be issued should states fail to comply with the judgment.

Commending the President’s stance, Ikonne said the move was aimed at strengthening grassroots governance and accelerating development at the local level.

According to him, states such as Lagos and Enugu have demonstrated how empowered local governments can deliver meaningful projects, including the construction of schools and health facilities.

“In Lagos State, you can clearly see local governments building health centres, schools and other critical infrastructure. The councils are run by elected chairmen and councillors who have access to their funds,” he said.

Ikonne dismissed claims that the President’s push for local government autonomy was politically motivated, describing such assertions as misleading.

He alleged that despite substantial monthly allocations running into hundreds of millions of naira, many local government councils receive only a fraction of their funds.

“My local government receives between N400 million and N500 million monthly, yet the chairman gets barely N8 million from the state,” he claimed.

The APC chieftain challenged Governor Otti to publicly account for the utilisation of local government funds since assuming office, insisting that transparency was key to restoring public trust.

Ikonne expressed optimism that governors who are yet to comply with the Supreme Court ruling would eventually align with the directive in the interest of democracy and grassroots development.