Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, OAGF, say there are still setbacks in its quest for the implementation of the July 11, 2024 Supreme court Judgment directing for total autonomy for the local government councils. According to the OAGF, the two major setbacks it identified are the failure by the LGAs to submit account details, and also streamlining only the LGAs that are democratically elected as a prerequisite for receiving the direct funding.
The information was contained in a minutes of the Federation Account Allocation Committee Technical Sub-Committee meeting chaired by AGF, Oluwatoyin Madein and was sighted over the weekend by vigil360.
According to sources familiar with the matter, in the meantime, the OAGF and Office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice have set modalities in motion to address the setback.
According to the minutes as sighted, out of the 774 local government councils, only Delta State, with 25 local government councils, has submitted their account details for direct payment.
“So far, only local governments in Delta State have provided account details.
“However, consultation with the Attorney-General of the Federation on the modalities of the submission of the accounts was still ongoing,” it said.
Addressing the challenge, Madein said a system was set to be implemented, but the initial challenge was in determining which local government councils had constitutionally elected chairmen.
She remarked that this foundational stage remained unclear.
“Additionally, for those with properly elected leadership, the question arose as to what mechanisms would be deployed to ensure they receive direct allocations.
“This was because numerous complexities needed to be addressed,” she said.
Recall that the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, had commenced processes of profiling the council chairmen and signatories to the bank accounts of the 774 local government areas in the country as part of processes to kick-start the local government autonomy process.
The Director of Legal Services at the CBN, Kofo Salam-Alada, has revealed that to ensure financial accountability and ethics, the process was necessary.
“This is all about standard procedure in the form of KYC (Know Your Customer). Anyone who will be a signatory to the account must be profiled.
“The process is ongoing, and we are collaborating with the AGF’s office. We have also written to the LGAs,” he said.
However, the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria said it had received no communication from the apex bank concerning the opening of bank accounts.
Subsequently, ALGON Chairman in Abia State and Chairman of the Mayor Isuikwuato LGA, Chinesu Ekeke, said that the apex ban was yet to invite any council chairman for signatory verification.
“No, we have not been invited for signatory verification. I am just hearing it. I have not heard it from any other source.
“I have not seen any publication to that effect, even at ALGON headquarters; nobody has informed us,” he stated.
This is coming as the National Union of Local Government Employees earlier warned the CBN against aiding state governors that might want to undermine the financial autonomy of local government councils.
Recall, the Supreme Court had, on July 11, 2024, declared the financial autonomy of the 774 local government areas in the country and had warned the state governors from further meddling or controlling funds meant for the councils.
The apex court also directed the Accountant-General of the Federation to pay local government allocations directly to their accounts, declaring the non-remittance of funds by the 36 states was unconstitutional.
However, eight months after the judgment, the financial autonomy has yet to take effect.