Presidential media aide Bayo Onanuga has called on Governors Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos, Babagana Zulum of Borno, and other state leaders to respect the Supreme Court’s verdict granting full autonomy to local governments.

“The Nigerian state governors should not see the Supreme Court judgment granting financial autonomy to the local councils as an affront,” Mr Onanuga in a post on X said, following the Supreme Court’s verdict on Thursday, which mandates that all LGAs receive their monthly allocations directly into their accounts.

Posting a photo of Messrs Sanwo-Olu, Zulum and other governors, Mr Onanuga said, “The governors must allow the councils to breathe and flourish again. It is in their best interest to ensure that the judgment is fully implemented in their domains.”

Mr Onanuga said that although local government is a crucial tier of government, state governors have undermined and made them unproductive in the past 25 years.

“The local council is a very important third tier of government, and its emasculation by the governors in the last 25 years has been at the root of the poverty and insecurity we have all over our country,” Mr Onanuga said.

The recent legal suit for full local government autonomy was initiated in May by the Attorney General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi.

On Thursday, Justice Emmanuel Agim, leading a seven-member panel, delivered a landmark ruling: “Henceforth, no more payment of the local government area allocations to the state government accounts.”

This ruling resolves a protracted legal battle over local government autonomy and mandates that the 774 LGAs will now receive their financial allocations directly from the federal government.