President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has issued his strongest warning yet to state governors, declaring that continued defiance of the Supreme Court judgment granting financial autonomy to local governments will attract decisive federal action.
Speaking Friday night at the 15th National Executive Committee meeting of the All Progressives Congress at the State House Conference Centre in Abuja, the President made it clear that the era of diverting local government funds is over.
“The Supreme Court has said, ‘give them their money directly,’” Tinubu said pointedly. “If you wait for my Executive Order, because I have the knife, I have the yam, I will cut it.” He warned that governors who fail to comply risk seeing their allocations shrink “FAAC after FAAC.”
Beyond the fiscal ultimatum, Tinubu called for renewed unity and tolerance within the ruling party, reminding leaders that the APC was founded on progressive ideals, inclusiveness, and respect for diverse opinions. “This democracy must not fail,” he said. “We must be accommodating if we want to be resilient.”
The President also reignited the debate on state policing, declaring it “the way to go” in confronting terrorism and banditry. He urged the National Assembly to summon the Inspector General of Police to design safeguards that would prevent abuse under a decentralised policing structure.
Tinubu further backed the push for greater female participation in elective offices and cautioned lawmakers against centralising the lottery business, insisting that lotto operations fall squarely within the constitutional jurisdiction of state governments.
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