Contrary to the news making the rounds that the governors are happy with the Supreme Court ruling on Local Government autonomy, Sunday Telegraph can report that most of them are angry with the verdict which has freed the third tier of government from the chokehold of the governors. In reaction to the ruling, the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) and Kwara State Governor, AbdulRazaq AbdulRahman, declared that the state governors were comfortable with the Supreme Court judgment, which granted financial autonomy to local governments. He said that the ruling had relieved the governors of a burden, noting that they were happy with devolving powers to the third tier of government.
Asked particularly for his reaction to the apex court’s judgement, the Kwara Governor said: “We welcome the ruling of the Supreme Court, compliance is given and our Attorney Generals have applied for the enrollment order, which we’ll study carefully.” He said: “But by and large, governors are happy with the devolution of power concerning local government autonomy. It relieves the burden on governors.
“Our people don’t know how much states expend in bailing out local governments, and that’s the issue there.” But impeccable sources, who spoke with Sunday Telegraph on Thursday night, said that the ruling hit the governors at the solar plexus. “They did not know what hit them,” a source volunteered.
The source said: “Most of the governors are very, very angry. They believed.