Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, has blamed President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for the governors’ compliance with the 2024 judgment of the Supreme Court, which affirmed the financial autonomy of Nigeria’s 774 local governments.
In the lead judgment of the apex court delivered by Emmanuel Agim, the seven-man panel ruled that it is illegal and unconstitutional for governors to receive and withhold funds allocated to local government areas (LGAs) in their states.
Tinubu, at the All Progressives Congress (APC) National Executive Council (NEC) meeting held last Friday, threatened to invoke Executive Order to ensure compliance with the judgment of the Supreme Court.
Atiku, in a post on his X handle on Wednesday, however, claimed that Tinubu was abetting the governors for political gains.
Atiku asked Tinubu to instruct the Attorney-General of the Federation, Prince Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), to enforce the judgment immediately.
The former vice president further claimed that Tinubu’s failure to ensure compliance with the judgment of the apex court “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.”
His post read: ”Dear Bola Ahmed Tinubu, by July next year, your administration will have spent two full years deliberately ignoring a binding judgment of the Supreme Court directing the Federal Government to implement direct FAAC allocation to local governments.
“This is not a delay. It is defiance. 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. 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.
“Local governments are the closest arm of government to the people. 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.
“This situation 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.
“Nigeria deserves leadership that obeys the law it swore to protect, not one that bends it for political gain.
“History will not forget this moment. Nigerians will not either.”
