Supreme Court: Bauchi Sets to Implement Local Government Autonomy

From Paul Orude Bauchi

The Bauchi State Government is ready to fully implement the Supreme Court judgment  that Directs implementing autonomy to Local Government as the third tier of government..

This was the resolution of a stakeholders’ consultative meeting, held at the Banquet Hall of the Government House, which  was presided over by the State Governor, Sen. Bala Mohammed.

The meeting was attended by the Deputy governor  Auwal Jatau, the Speaker of the House of Assembly,  Abubakar Y. Suleiman, and the elected chairmen of the 20 LGAs in the state.

Briefing journalists on the outcome, Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Aminu Hammayo, disclosed that the State Government would soon present two Executive Bills to the State House of Assembly on how to address the issue.

 “Over the last six to seven months, the most topical issue in Nigeria was the autonomy of the LGAs, which arose as a result of the Supreme Court judgment granting autonomy to LGAs,” Hammayo argued.

“A lot of discussions had taken place around it, and the Governor felt it necessary for us, as a state, to examine issues surrounding LGCs’ autonomy in order to come up with a framework and key provisions to guide us in implementing local government autonomy.

 “Consequently, a roundtable meeting of stakeholders was convened, which held throughout the day with chairpersons of the LGCs in attendance. We had several paper presentations addressing LG administration, revenue generation and sharing formula, current structure, and other relevant issues.”

The SSG explained that there were various inputs and debates on the presentations, leading to the formulation of two bills that will be sent to the House of Assembly to define how best to run local government administration in Bauchi State.

 “Two draft bills were prepared and presented by the Attorney-General and Commissioner of Justice. They are the Local Government Administration Bill 2025 and a law for the state to implement local government autonomy.”

He stated that the two bills were discussed and scrutinised by the stakeholders at the meeting, with reactions elicited, noted, and accommodated to ensure all views and opinions contribute to perfect legislation.

The SSG assured that the bills will be presented to the State House of Assembly for legislative purposes and eventual passage into law, in line with the Supreme Court judgment granting autonomy to LGAs in the country.

 Hammayo assured that the State Government  would ensure a hitch free implementation of the autonomy.