The Governor of Anambra state, Professor Charles Soludo, said governors around the country will take time to review the landmark judgement handed by the Supreme court which critics say gives the local governments financial autonomy from the states. Soludo who spoke briefly with pressmen after a meeting with the President in Abuja, described the summary of the judgement as “great” but said he and his colleagues will scrutinize the details of the ruling.
The former CBN governor said the ruling will free up funds for the local councils and promote accountability.
“That’s great. I mean, the Supreme Court is the final authority and I am a democrat. I believe in the rule of law. And once the Supreme Court has spoken, it has spoken. Tonight, I think the Governors Forum is meeting to review this.
“We need to promote accountability. We need to promote transparency in the utilisation of public resources at all levels, to be able to lift the burden of the common man,” he said.
Soludo re-echoed his resolve to conduct local government elections in the South-East state after years.
“When I was elected into office, that’s one of the things I promised our people [to conduct local government election] because in Anambra, I think the first local government election we had was in 1998.”
He said, “I promised the people of Anambra that we’re going to have local government election, and I stated that in my inaugural speech. We’ve just passed the Independent Electoral Commission Law of Anambra State and we’re putting together the institutions to be able to organize that. It is a promise I made and when I make a promise, I am serious about keeping it.”
