The Federal Government, yesterday, said it would initiate criminal actions against elected officials that collude with governors to divert allocations meant for the 774 Local Government Areas in the country.
The Federal Government, through the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, said the decision was in line with the judgment of the Supreme Court that granted financial autonomy to LGs.
The AGF, who spoke at the 2024 Annual General Conference of the Abuja Chapter of the National Association of Judiciary Correspondents, NAJUC, described the diversion of LG funds by governors as an impeachable offence.
He said the Federal Government was aware that some governors have planted their loyalists in the various LGs through shambolic elections.
According to the Justice Minister, though FG could not interfere with the LG elections, it would, however, drag the elected officials to court should they mismanage funds released to them from the federation account.
Insisting that it was the deplorable condition of many LG Secretariats across the country that moved FG to drag the 36 state governors before the Supreme Court, the AGF said his office would not also hesitate to file another action to challenge the powers of state governments to conduct Area Council elections.
He said: “The situation was also such that even when the secretariat needed to buy stationeries, you had to notify the governor in advance that you want to spend your money. And we have listened to such funny arguments before and after the judgment, to the effect that, oh, they are not matured enough. I said, how better are you? Are you any better? Leave them.
And we have been drawing these into the ears of the local government officials that look, the governors have immunity, but you don’t have.
“So, it is very easy for you to get yourself to Kuje or other prisons spread across Nigeria.
Before I go further, let me say that even before the pronouncement of the Supreme Court, there were so many pressures coming from left, right and center. But I give kudos to President Bola Tinubu, who despite the pressure, was able to stand up and say that he is the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and that the 774 local governments are also people to be protected and he did so.”
The CJN, who was represented by the Secretary of the National Judicial Institute, Mr. Abdullaziz Olumo, urged journalists to avoid sensationalism in news reporting.
She further expressed concern over what she termed as “trial by media,” where premature narratives prejudge cases, sometimes infringing on constitutional rights.
Earlier in his keynote address, Prof. Mike Ozekhome, SAN, said there was need for the judiciary to continue to live up to expectation by ensuring that justice is not sacrificed on the alter of technicalities.
Speaking on the theme of the conference: “The role of courts in the enforcement of judgments,” Ozekhome maintained that courts must hold the balance of scale between feuding parties, even as he cautioned judges against denying lawyers the opportunity to effectively present their case in court.
In his welcome address, the Chairman of the Abuja Chapter of NAJUC, Mr. Kayode Lawal, while pledging the commitment of the media to fair and balanced reporting, also called for a holistic reform that would ensure that lawyers who compromise judges, are promptly and adequately punished.
