Nigeria’s Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, cautioned states on Tuesday not to disregard the Supreme Court’s ruling on financial autonomy for local government areas (LGAs), emphasizing that no one has the authority to alter the court’s judgment.

His remarks came in light of Anambra State Governor Chukwuma Soludo’s recent decision to enact a law granting the state government oversight authority over the local governments, a move made in response to the Supreme Court’s ruling that affirmed LGAs’ financial autonomy. Governor Soludo expressed concerns that full autonomy for Nigeria’s 774 local governments could lead to chaos and hinder sustainable development.

Fagbemi stated that there has been no three-month moratorium for state governments regarding the implementation of the Supreme Court’s judgment. Speaking to reporters in Ado Ekiti, he asserted that while the judgment’s implementation is essential, certain prerequisites must be met to ensure its smooth execution and avoid potential issues.

He reiterated the federal government’s commitment to ensuring that all duly elected local government officials receive their allocations directly from the federation account. “Unfortunately, it has been reported that governors were given a three-month moratorium, which is not accurate. The implementation of the judgment is inevitable; nobody can evade it,” he said.

The Attorney General pointed out that the federal government is reviewing the laws of the affected states, particularly in relation to local government elections. He highlighted that in some states, a six-month notice is required before elections, and failure to comply would result in court nullification of improperly conducted elections.

Fagbemi expressed the government’s desire to avoid situations where stakeholders are forced to start over due to legal challenges arising from improperly held elections, stating, “We don’t want to reach a point where the court nullifies the elections, forcing everyone to return to square one.”