According to a news report from Leadership, governors under the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) are currently meeting in Abuja to discuss the recent Supreme Court judgment granting autonomy to local governments across the nation.

The Supreme Court ruled two weeks ago that financial allocations meant for running all 774 local government areas in the country must be paid directly to them. The court also declared that state governments lack the right to keep and manage allocations on behalf of the local governments, labelling this practice unconstitutional.

The federal government, through the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi, had instituted the case against the 36 state governors for disbursing federal allocations to council areas in contravention of the amended 1999 Constitution.

Consequently, the Chairman of the NGF and Kwara State Governor, AbdulRasaq AbdulRahman, said governors would meet to discuss the implications of the ruling and come to a resolution.

Additionally, this is the first public meeting of the forum since President Bola Tinubu approved the N70, 000 as the new minimum wage.

The governors are also likely to comment on the raging debate about the planned nationwide protest.

Other issue that may interest the governors is discussion on the state contributions and shareholder rights in Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC).