LG Autonomy: Despite Supreme Court Judgement, FG Releases N2tn Council Allocations to Govs
- ALGON and NULGE have taken action as the federal government led by President Tinubu failed to implement direct payments of council allocations for six months to LG chairmen
- Despite the Supreme Court ruling granting financial autonomy to the 774 LGAs, FG released N2.08 trillion in allocations meant for local government councils to state governments
- The secretary-general of ALGON, Mohammed Abubakar, confirmed and shared further details on the matter
Legit.ng journalist Esther Odili has over two years of experience covering political parties and movements.
The Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) reportedly disbursed N2.08 trillion in allocations to local government councils between July and December 2024.
Source: Facebook
The Punch made this revelation in its latest publication on Tuesday, December 16.
Recall that a July 2024 Supreme Court judgement granted full financial autonomy to Nigeria’s 774 local government areas and mandated direct payments to the councils.
However, the federal government led by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has not implemented the decision. It was gathered that the allocations were still paid to state government accounts.
Nearly six months after the judgment, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, said the FG was yet to commence direct payment to the respective LGs due to some “practical impediments.”
ALGON, NULGE kick
This development, however, was not well received by officials and members of the Association of the Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON) and the National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE).
The secretary-general of ALGON, Mohammed Abubakar, while speaking on the delay in the direct payment of federal allocation to local governments, lamented the non-implementation of the Supreme Court ruling.
In an interview with The Punch, Abubakar said:
“Sincerely, we are all in the dark as we stand now. People who don’t want this LG autonomy to work are having a field day. Ordinarily, the Supreme Court judgment should not be left unattended. We are in the dark, to the extent that we cannot pinpoint what the government is trying to achieve by not enforcing the Supreme Court judgment allowing allocation to be paid directly to local government accounts.”
He noted that the associations (ALGON and NLUGE) have made their demands known to the Accountant-General of the Federation.
Abubakar added:
“The Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees and ALGON had made their submissions that the LGs accounts should be opened across board and submitted to the Office of The Accountant-General for the allocation to be disbursed directly.”
Read more about LG autonomy here:
- LG autonomy: FG finally mentions those who will be jailed
- LG autonomy: What will happen to govs who tamper with LGA funds, circumvent Supreme Court judgement
FG to begin implementation of LG autonomy
Legit.ng earlier reported that the federal government was set to implement the Supreme Court judgment granting local government financial autonomy.
Hakeem Ambali, national president of NULGE, said that the committee set up by the federal, state and local government authorities had concluded their meetings and signed the technical document.
Proofreading by Nkem Ikeke, journalist and copy editor at Legit.ng.
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