The Gubernatorial Candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC) in the November 16th Ondo State Elections, Kunle 'Wizeman' Ajayi commends the Supreme Court for its affirmation of Local Government Autonomy. Thisbjs contained in a statement released to pressmen on Thursday afternoon in Akure, the Ondo State capital and signed by Abiodun Lijofi, the Spokesperson, Ajayi/Dada IrapadaOndo Gubernatorial Campaign Committee.
In its lead judgement read by Justice Emmanuel Agim, the apex court observed that the refusal of state government on financial autonomy for local governments has gone on for over two decades.
"The Supreme Court also said local governments have since stopped receiving the money meant for them from the state governors who act in their stead. The Supreme Court, therefore, ordered that the 774 local government councils in the country should manage their funds themselves."
"This is also a great victory for the National Association of Local Government Employees (NULGE) and workers generally in Nigeria as their long fights have now come to success."
"The AAC candidate believes that the local government is the closest to the people and should be the centre point of development. Sadly, governors have been usurping this for primitive accumulation of wealth and power. So, the position of the Supreme Court will engender democracy and help more Nigerians to hold their leaders accountable."
"This judgement is also a great loss to Lucky Aiyedatiwa and other governors who had gone to court to battle against Local Government Autonomy. We warned them that the truth would prevail. These governors hate democracy and believe that Nigerians must be exploited more in order to satisfy their greed. Now, they have lost woefully!" the statement added.
"We call on Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa to dissolve Ondo State Independent Electoral Commission (ODIEC) immediately. The agency is more or less a section of the ruling party, and it is quite anti-democratic!"
"We remember, with nostalgia, how our party, the African Action Congress (AAC), was robbed in the last Ondo State Local Government elections in 2020. We are glad that we protested this in a long and well detailed petition, but sadly, the late Governor Rotimi Akeredolu never constituted the Elections Tribunal to look into our grievances. Such is the tyrannical method governors use in hoodwinking democracy from the grassroots."
"Finally, the African Action Congress (AAC) urges INEC to immediately meet with all local government stakeholders and draw a timetable for a uniform Local Government Elections nationwide. We will continue to push for real democracy even when rogue forces are so reluctant to give up!"
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