President Bola Tinubu has issued a strong warning to state governors over the continued control of local government funds, declaring that he is prepared to use executive powers to enforce compliance with the Supreme Court judgment on local government financial autonomy.

The president spoke barely 24 hours after appealing to governors to respect the ruling of the apex court.

His latest warning came on Friday night during the All Progressives Congress (APC) National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting, where he made it clear that patience should not be mistaken for weakness.

Tinubu reminded the governors that the Supreme Court had already settled the matter, affirming that local governments must receive their statutory allocations directly, without interference from state governments.

He said any continued refusal to comply would leave him with no option but to act.

Addressing governors, the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives at the meeting, Tinubu said he would not allow disobedience to the authority of the Supreme Court to continue unchecked.

He said:

“Now that you have elections at the local government level, you are the invigilators, you elected them and since you elected them, it means you know them. But give them their money and if you don’t do it, I have the Executive Order because I have the yam and the knife. I am just being very respectful and if you don’t start to implement it, you will see.

“The ultimate is our Supreme Court and you have to respect the judgment.”

The Supreme Court, in its 2024 judgment delivered by a seven-member panel led by Justice Emmanuel Agim, ruled that all 774 local governments in Nigeria are entitled to receive their allocations directly from the Accountant-General of the Federation.

The court held that any diversion of these funds by state governments undermines local government autonomy.

Earlier, Tinubu had raised similar concerns during the APC National Caucus meeting on Thursday night, where he lamented that the independence of local councils was being steadily eroded.

Meanwhile, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abass, used the NEC meeting to caution the ruling party about internal challenges arising from its growing membership.

While commending the party’s leadership for its expansion, he warned that poor management of the large coalition could weaken unity and discipline.

“We are a governing coalition that continues to grow. Managing this number can lead to fragmentation if there is no unity and discipline. NEC has a role to play in ensuring discipline and preventing factionalisation,” he said.

Abass stressed the need for respect for party structures, insisting that discipline must remain a core value of the APC.

“APC must be a party that governs with discipline,” he added.

Also speaking, Imo State Governor and Chairman of the Progressive Governors Forum, Senator Hope Uzodimma, praised President Tinubu’s leadership and defended the administration’s economic reforms. He said recent policies were beginning to deliver positive outcomes across key sectors.

“We commend the new era of swift action in tackling insecurity, such as the rejig of the security architecture,” Uzodimma said.

“We must acknowledge that petrol price has stabilised. It will continue to go down. The present reforms are yielding results. Inflation is receding, prices of foodstuffs are going down.”

Uzodimma further noted that crude oil revenues now flow directly into the Federation Account, which he said has strengthened Nigeria’s foreign reserves. He also accused opposition parties of driving narratives that portray Nigeria negatively on the global stage.

According to him, claims of religious persecution in the country are unfounded and politically motivated.

“We will support Mr President to fish out those who may be fanning embers of destabilisation,” he said.

“Our job is to take the message of improved economy to the last man on the street.

“We hereby resolve to restate our confidence in Mr President. We thereby pass a vote of implicit confidence and urge Mr President to continue to make us proud.”

Kaduna State Governor, Senator Uba Sani, seconded the motion, signaling broad support among APC governors for the president’s leadership.