The federal government has inaugurated an inter-ministerial committee to enforce the Supreme Court judgment granting financial autonomy to local governments in Nigeria.
George Akume, Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), inaugurated the committee on Tuesday in Abuja.
The SGF said the committee’s primary goal is to ensure that local government councils are granted full autonomy.
Mr Akume added that the committee will ensure that the local government councils function effectively without interference from state governments.
The committee chaired by the SGF has the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice and Minister of Budget and Economic Planning as members.
Other committee members are the Accountant General of the Federation, the Central Bank governor, the permanent secretary (Federal Ministry of Finance), and the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission chairman.
The committee also included representatives of state governors and local governments as members.
According to Mr Akume, the move aligns with President Bola Tinubu’s efforts to give appropriate implementation to the provisions of the constitution, which recognises local governments as the third tier of government.
(NAN)