He made these remarks during a one-day event titled “Discourse on National Nigeria’s Security Challenges and Good Governance at the Local Government Levels” in Abuja on Monday. The program, organized by the House of Representatives, centered on the theme “Nigeria’s Security Challenges and Good Governance at the Local Government Levels.”
According to Fagbemi, governors have exploited the gaps and weaknesses in certain sections of the 1999 Constitution to undermine and render local governments ineffective. He accused governors of manipulating Section 7(1), Section 83(3), Section 7(5), and other sections to impose their control over local governments in the country.
Fagbemi pointed out that these constitutional shortcomings have enabled governors to violate the rights of local governments, depriving grassroots communities of effective governance. He emphasized that the most egregious abuse involves state electoral commissions being used to install local government leaders through fraudulent elections, while many governors simply appoint caretaker leaders for their local governments.
He also highlighted the misuse of state and local government joint accounts by state governors, which has led to severe financial constraints on local governments as governors retain control over federal allocations.
Fagbemi called for the abolition of state electoral commissions to promote true democracy at the local government level. He advocated for a comprehensive constitutional amendment to eliminate all obstacles hindering the development and functionality of local governments.
He stated, “To achieve this, many experts have proposed the need for the abolition of the state independent electoral commission. Their functions and powers should be transferred to the Independent National Electoral Commission because the state independent electoral commission remains a tool for every incumbent governor. This is seen as the fundamental problem affecting local government administration in Nigeria.”
Fagbemi’s remarks follow his filing of a lawsuit against governors at the Supreme Court on behalf of the Federal Government. He requested the Supreme Court to stop the remittance of local government funds to states and to prevent the 36 state governments from disbanding elected local government chairmen and replacing them with caretaker committees.