The Supreme Court has affirmed the re-election of Senator Duoye Diri as the Governor of Bayelsa State after dismissing the appeal of Timipre Sylva, candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), in the November 11, 2023 off-cycle election. A five-member panel of the Apex Court headed by Justice Lawal Garba, on Friday affirmed the Court of Appeal decision of July …

The Supreme Court, on Friday, dismissed the appeal of the Social Democratic Party candidate, Muritala Ajaka, in the Kogi State governorship election. Ajaka had challenged the result announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission after the  11, November 2023 election which produced Usman Ododo of the All Progressives Congress as the winner. A five-member panel of the apex court, in …

The Supreme Court has reserved judgments in over 10 appeals filed on the disputes that arose from the last governorship elections held on 11 November, last year, in Bayelsa, Kogi and Imo states. A five-member panel, presided over by Justice Mohammed Lawal Garba, heard the appeals yesterday and told parties that they would be informed when the judgments are ready. …

The Supreme Court of Nigeria, in a suit instituted by the Federal Government against state governors of the monthly allocations disbursed from the federation account to the various Local Government Councils, delivered a landmark judgement on Thursday, 11 July, 2024 when it held that states have no constitutional power to withhold Local Government funds was received with widespread applause nationwide …

The Supreme Court judgement on 11 July, granting financial autonomy to the 774 local councils and recognising them as the third tier of Nigeria’s governance architecture, was truly historic. It was perhaps the most remarkable judgement ever delivered by the apex court in recent times, as it used its power to interpret the law to give a different meaning to …

While many state governors waited with bated breath for Thursday, 11 July Supreme Court ruling on the full autonomy of local governments in Nigeria, one of them stood out, unperturbed by the development. For Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the suit brought before the apex court seeking to strengthen the local government councils by granting them financial autonomy has …

Last Thursday’s judgement by the Supreme Court granting financial autonomy to local government councils marks a significant shift in the country’s governance structure, aiming to reduce the influence of state governors over local administrations, public affairs expert has said. In a statement on Monday, Founder/Chief Strategist of The Rainbow Strategy, Mr. Franklyn Ginger-Eke, the judgement was a bold decision on local …

The Supreme Court has barred governors from dissolving democratically elected Local Government Councils in the country. In a landmark judgement on Thursday, the apex court said that, doing so, would amount to a breach of the 1999 Constitution. In the suit filed by the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), the Federal Government sought an order preventing the governors from …

President Bola Tinubu, on Thursday, welcomed the decision of the Supreme Court, which affirmed the spirit, intent, and purpose of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on the statutory rights of local governments. President Tinubu said that a fundamental challenge to the nation’s advancement over the years has been ineffective local government administration, as governance at the critical …

The Supreme Court, on Thursday, declared that it is unconstitutional for state governors to hold onto funds meant for Local Government administrations. 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. Justice Agim said that local governments …