THE Supreme Court declared on Thursday that it is unconstitutional for State Governors to hold funds allocated for Local Government administrations.
In the judgment delivered by Justice Emmanuel Agim, the seven-man panel declared that the 774 Local Government councils in the country should manage their funds themselves.
The Apex Court held that the power of the Government is portioned into three arms of government, Federal, State and Local Government. After this ruling, it is pertinent to understand the functions of the Local Government administrations in Nigeria.
Local Government is the third tier of Government and it was established to bring Government closer to the people at the grassroots. A Local Government Council oversees each Local Government Area (LGA).
There are 20 constitutionally recognised Local Governments and 37 local council development areas in Lagos State.
Some functions of the Local Government include consideration and making of recommendations to a State commission on economic planning, collection of rates, radio and television licences, establishment and maintenance of cemeteries, burial grounds and homes for the destitute or infirm, licensing of bicycles, trucks (other than mechanically propelled trucks), canoes, wheel barrows, and carts, and establishment, maintenance, and regulation of slaughter houses, slaughter slabs, markets, motor parks, and public conveniences.
Other functions include the control and regulation of outdoor advertising and hoarding, control and regulation of movement and keeping of pets of all descriptions, control and regulation of restaurants, bakeries and other places for sale of food to the public, control and regulation of laundries, and licensing, regulation, and control of the sale of liquor; construction and maintenance of roads, streets, street lightings, drains, and other public highways, parks, gardens, open spaces, or such public facilities as may be prescribed from time to time by the House of Assembly of a State; naming of roads, streets, and numbering of houses; provision and maintenance of public conveniences, sewage and refuse disposal; registration of all births, deaths, and marriages, and assessment of privately owned houses or tenements to levy such rates as may be prescribed by the House of Assembly of a State.
The Local Governments will also participate in the provision and maintenance of primary, adult and vocational education, the development of agriculture and natural resources, other than the exploitation of materials, and the provision and maintenance of health services.
