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By John Ogunsemore
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar said the Bola Tinubu administration has deliberately ignored the Supreme Court judgment ordering direct federal allocation to local government areas in the country.
Atiku stated this in a Wednesday statement shared on X.
On July 11, 2024, a five-man panel of the Supreme Court granted financial autonomy to the 774 local government areas in the country.
The apex court ruled that local governments must receive their allocations directly from the Federation Account, describing the long-standing practice of routing the funds through state governments as unconstitutional.
Atiku observed that by July 2026, Tinubu’s government would have spent two full years deliberately ignoring the “binding” judgement of the Supreme Court directing the Federal Government to implement direct FAAC allocation to local governments.
The 2023 presidential candidate of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) noted that the incumbent government’s action “is defiance” and not mere delay.
“Your refusal to act is a calculated political move—using obedience to the law as a bargaining chip to force opposition governors into the APC and to keep governors within your party firmly under your control.
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“In doing so, you have reduced the Constitution to a tool of convenience and governance to partisan bargaining
“Let us be clear: Supreme Court judgments are final, not optional. Persistently refusing to enforce one is a direct breach of the Constitution and a violation of the oath you swore to Nigerians,” Atiku said.
The ex-VP stated that the local governments are the closest arm of government to the people.
He said, “By withholding their financial autonomy (which ironically you’ve been trumpeting as a core cardinal policy), you are not weakening governors, you are crippling communities, stalling development, and deepening poverty at the grassroots.
“Roads remain broken, health centres abandoned, salaries unpaid—not by accident, but by choice.”
According to him, implementing the apex court judgement does not require threats of executive orders or political drama.
“The solution is simple: instruct the Attorney-General of the Federation to enforce the judgment immediately. Anything short of this is a failure of leadership.
“Your continued inaction sends a clear message: that political control matters more than constitutional duty, that party dominance matters more than economic justice, and that regime survival outweighs the daily suffering of Nigerians already battered by harsh economic policies,” Atiku said.
He added that Nigeria deserves leadership that obeys the law it swore to protect, not one that bends it for political gain.
