Yemi Obafemi
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has accused President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of deliberately refusing to implement a binding judgment of the Supreme Court on direct financial allocations to local governments.
In an open message addressed to the President, Atiku said that by July next year, the Tinubu administration would have spent two full years “deliberately ignoring a binding judgment of the Supreme Court directing the Federal Government to implement direct FAAC allocation to local governments.”
“This is not delay. It is defiance,” Atiku stated. “Your refusal to act is a calculated political move using obedience to the law as a bargaining chip to force opposition governors into the APC and to keep governors within your party firmly under your control.”
The former presidential candidate warned that Supreme Court judgments are final and not subject to political discretion, stressing that continued refusal to enforce the ruling amounts to a constitutional breach.
“Let us be clear: Supreme Court judgments are final, not optional. Persistently refusing to enforce one is a direct breach of the Constitution and a violation of the oath you swore to Nigerians,” he said.
Atiku also argued that the failure to grant local governments financial autonomy has worsened conditions at the grassroots, noting that councils are the closest tier of government to the people.
“By withholding their financial autonomy, you are not weakening governors; you are crippling communities, stalling development, and deepening poverty at the grassroots,” he said, adding that “roads remain broken, health centres abandoned, and salaries unpaid, not by accident, but by choice.”
He dismissed calls for executive orders or political negotiations, insisting that the solution was straightforward.
“This situation does not require threats of executive orders or political drama. The solution is simple: instruct the Attorney-General of the Federation to enforce the judgment immediately. Anything short of this is a failure of leadership,” Atiku said.
He further accused the administration of prioritising political control over constitutional responsibility, warning that Nigerians would remember the episode.
“Your continued inaction sends a clear message: that political control matters more than constitutional duty, that party dominance matters more than economic justice, and that regime survival outweighs the daily suffering of Nigerians,” Atiku added.
“Nigeria deserves leadership that obeys the law it swore to protect, not one that bends it for political gain. History will not forget this moment. Nigerians will not either.”
