In an effort to impliment the recent local government Autonomy by president Tinubu administration, the Presidency has disclosed that beginning from the end of January this month, all local government areas across Nigeria will begin receiving their allocations directly from the Federal Allocation Account Committee (FAAC).
Special Adviser to the President on Media and Public Communications, Sunday Dare, made this known during an interview on Arise News on Thursday night, this afternoon.
Speaking, he reiterated President Bola Tinubu’s commitment to implementing the Supreme Court’s landmark July 2024 judgment, which declared state control over local government funds unconstitutional. And this will finally make the council free from the domination of states.
In a unanimous decision delivered by Justice Emmanuel Agbim, the apex court ruled that allocations to local governments should either be paid directly or through states.
However, given the ineffectiveness of the latter over the years, the court mandated direct payments to local councils.
Accordingly, the judgment came on the heel of a suit filed by the Attorney General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), advocating for the financial autonomy of Nigeria’s 774 local government areas.
Despite the ruling, there were hitches encountered in its implementation in perfecting that it receives a proper mechanisms were in place to avoid pitfall. Therefore, the Minister has confirmed that these arrangements are now complete, paving the way for local governments to begin receiving funds directly by the end of January.
Dare said, “We have a President who ensures local government autonomy. I spoke to a local government chairman, who said, ‘Oh, I will be getting N2.9bn, instead of the N200m I was getting before’.
“From the end of this month, LG will receive the money directly,” Dare explained.
Meanwhile, to maintain transparency, he has called for greater scrutiny of state and local government financial management. “One state collected N499 billion last years—nearly four times its previous allocation—yet there’s little to show for it,” he noted.
He reiterated that while the Federal Government often receives much of the criticism, he called on well meaning Nigerians to pay more attention now on how states and local governments utilize their resources henceforth.
“The framers of our constitution created the three tiers of government for a reason. It’s time to hold states and local governments accountable,” Dare concluded.