Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has accused President Bola Tinubu of deliberately delaying the enforcement of the Supreme Court’s July 2024 ruling on local government financial autonomy, alleging it is a political tactic to pressure opposition governors into joining the All Progressives Congress (APC).
In a strongly worded statement posted on social media on Thursday, Atiku, a chieftain of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), urged Tinubu to immediately direct the Attorney-General of the Federation to implement the judgment, which declared it unconstitutional for states to withhold or manage local government funds and banned caretaker committees.
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“No threats of Executive Orders are needed,” Atiku said. “All the President needs to do is instruct the Attorney-General to enforce the judgment immediately. Anything short of this is a failure of leadership.”
He claimed Tinubu’s inaction was “calculated,” using compliance as “a bargaining chip to force opposition governors into the APC and to keep governors within your party firmly under your control.”
Atiku warned that this reduces the Constitution to “a tool of convenience” and governance to “partisan bargaining,” stressing that Supreme Court judgments are “final, not optional.”
The former vice president argued that withholding autonomy harms grassroots communities, stalling development and deepening poverty, rather than merely weakening governors.
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“Persistently refusing to enforce the court’s ruling is a direct breach of the Constitution and a violation of the oath you swore to Nigerians,” he added, cautioning that history would judge the administration harshly.
Atiku’s remarks followed Tinubu’s comments at the APC’s 15th National Executive Committee meeting, where the President urged governors to comply or face a potential Executive Order for direct allocations from the Federation Account.
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