By changing section 124 of the country's constitution on Tuesday, the National Assembly gave all 774 local council authorities in Nigeria complete financial and administrative autonomy.
A consequential provision for the establishment of local councils, a complete third-tier government without excessive intervention from state governments, is provided by this section.
The House of Representatives passed twenty-two amendments last week, and the Senate ratified them on Tuesday. This amendment was one of them. A conference committee worked with both chambers to harmonize the versions of the constitutional amendments that each of them completed last month.
As of the development, every one of the twenty-three clauses and sections that had been modified by both houses had been ratified by the National Assembly.
The establishment of the State Local Government Service Commission and the Office of Auditor General of Local Government were also approved in the recently amended document that was to be submitted to the state houses of assembly for approval.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was given the authority to hold council elections when the State Independent Electoral Commission (SIEC) was removed from the constitution.
Nonetheless, by accepting the Senate's version of the relevant amendments and rejecting the House of Representatives' version, which eliminated the immunity clause, it preserved the constitutional immunity granted to the President and Governors.
Additionally, the National Assembly amended sections 65 and 106 of the 1999 constitution to allow for Independent Candidacy in upcoming Nigerian elections.