Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has criticised President Bola Tinubu over the Federal Government’s continued failure to implement the Supreme Court judgment granting direct FAAC allocation to local governments, describing the delay as outright defiance.
In a strongly worded letter to the President, Atiku said that “by July next year, your administration will 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,” he stated.
Atiku accused the Tinubu administration of deliberately refusing to act, arguing that “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.”
According to him, the continued inaction has undermined constitutional governance, noting that “in doing so, you have reduced the Constitution to a tool of convenience and governance to partisan bargaining.”
The former vice president stressed that court rulings must be obeyed, declaring that “Supreme Court judgments are final, not optional,” and warning that “persistently refusing to enforce one is a direct breach of the Constitution and a violation of the oath you swore to Nigerians.”
He said local governments, which he described as “the closest arm of government to the people,” are suffering the consequences of the policy. Atiku argued that withholding their financial autonomy has stalled development at the grassroots.
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“Roads remain broken, health centres abandoned, salaries unpaid—not by accident, but by choice,” he said.
Atiku maintained that the situation does not require executive orders or political manoeuvring, stating that “the solution is simple: instruct the Attorney-General of the Federation to enforce the judgment immediately.”
He warned that anything short of this amounts to “a failure of leadership,” adding that continued inaction sends a clear message that “political control matters more than constitutional duty” and that “party dominance matters more than economic justice.”
Atiku concluded by saying that Nigeria deserves leadership that respects the rule of law, warning that “history will not forget this moment” and that “Nigerians will not either.”