Atiku Abubakar accuses President Tinubu of political blackmail over refusal by governors, including Dapo Abiodun, to pay local government allocations directly despite a Supreme Court ruling
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has accused President Bola Tinubu of failing to rein in state governors, including Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun, who he said are deliberately refusing to pay local governments their allocations directly, in defiance of a binding Supreme Court judgment.
In a strongly worded public statement addressed to the President, Atiku said the Federal Government would have spent nearly two years by July 2026 failing to enforce the court’s directive mandating direct Federation Account Allocation Committee disbursements to local government councils.
According to Atiku, while governors are the immediate actors withholding the funds, President Tinubu bears constitutional responsibility for ensuring compliance with the judgment, particularly through executive authority and the office of the Attorney General of the Federation.
“This is not delay. It is defiance,” Atiku said, arguing that the continued refusal of governors to comply has been enabled by the President’s silence and inaction.
The former vice president alleged that the refusal by governors to release council funds directly has become a political tool, allowing state executives to maintain control over local governments, suppress dissent and consolidate power at the grassroots.
He accused the Tinubu administration of allowing constitutional enforcement to become subject to political calculations, warning that failure to act has effectively reduced Supreme Court judgments to optional guidelines rather than binding law.
Atiku stressed that local governments remain the closest tier of government to the people and that withholding their statutory allocations has stalled development across communities nationwide.
He said the impact is visible in unpaid salaries, abandoned health centres, deteriorating rural roads and weakened basic services, noting that these outcomes are the direct result of governors retaining funds meant for local councils.
Atiku also described it as contradictory for the Tinubu administration to publicly promote local government autonomy while allowing governors to continue controlling council finances in violation of the Constitution.
He said the issue requires no executive order or political manoeuvring, insisting that President Tinubu only needs to direct the Attorney General of the Federation to enforce the Supreme Court ruling without delay.
“Anything short of this is a failure of leadership,” Atiku said, adding that continued inaction sends a dangerous message that political convenience outweighs constitutional duty.
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He warned that Nigerians would ultimately judge both the governors withholding the funds and the President expected to enforce the law, saying history would record the period as a defining test of constitutional governance.
David Okere is a journalist and contributor to Freelanews.com, covering business, governance, public affairs, and human-interest stories with a commitment to accuracy, balance, and public interest reporting.
