Govs Meet Over LG Autonomy, New Minimum Wage, Others

Governors under the umbrella of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) are currently meeting in Abuja to discuss the recent Supreme Court judgment granting autonomy to local governments across the nation.

Recall that the Supreme Court had two weeks ago directed that the financial allocations meant for running all 774 local government areas in the country be paid directly to them.

The apex court also ruled that state governments lacked the right to keep and manage allocations on behalf of the local governments, a practice the court says is unconstitutional.

The federal government, through the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi instituted the case against the 36 state governors for disbursing federal allocations to council areas in contravention of the 1999 Constitution as amended.

Consequently, the Chairman of the NGF and Kwara State Governor, AbdulRasaq AbdulRahman, said governors would meet to discuss the implications of the ruling and come to a resolution.

Additionally, this is the first public meeting of the forum since President Bola Tinubu approved the N70, 000 as the new minimum wage.

The governors are also likely to comment on the raging debate about the planned nationwide protest.

Other issue that may interest the governors is discussion on the state contributions and shareholder rights in Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC).