NewStats: 3,264,884 , 8,185,011 topics. Date: Thursday, 12 June 2025 at 05:34 PM 2t58t

The 774 local governments are to open dedicated s with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for the direct disbursement of allocations to them from the Federation , the Association of Local Governments (ALGON) said yesterday.

The National President, Bello Lawal Yandaki, said the opening of the is critical to the implementation of the Supreme Court ruling on direct allocations to the councils.

He said the apex bank is waiting for the Federal Government’s directive on the opening of the s.

Also, the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) is to monitor the utilisation of the funds by the chairmen in conformity with the principles of transparency, ability and good governance, a source said.

According to the source, the Federal Government has constituted a team of anti-corruption agents drawn from the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (IC) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to prosecute council chairmen and other officials who indulge in corrupt practices.

Yandaki, who spoke with reporters in Katsina, the capital of Katsina State, allayed fears over the delay in the disbursement of funds to the councils.

He said there was no cause for alarm and attributed the delay to the failure of councils to submit necessary bank details to the Federation s and Allocations Committee (FAAC) required for facilitating the payments.

He said: “The CBN is presently awaiting directives from the Federal Government to open local government s for the respective states, which can be done between 24 and 48 hours for each.’

“I am a member of the sub-committee that was set up to trash out contentious grey areas, and we have already met relevant stakeholders, including labour unions, local government chairmen, NULGE, and so on.

“There’s a general agreement that the commencement of direct federal revenue allocations to LGs will be this January.

“Hopefully, we are just rounding off meetings and making submissions to the Federal Government for implantation and there’s no set timeline.’’

A source present at the FAAC meeting at the weekend also said: “The structures are yet to be erected. The LGAs have to be coordinated.

“Those that have opened an with the CBN did not submit their details to FAAC for crediting, resulting in the delay.”

During the January FAAC meeting, N361.754 billion was allocated to the LGAs.

However, the funds remain undistributed due to these istrative bottlenecks.

FAAC officials have urged the councils to resolve these issues before the month’s end to ensure they receive their allocations.

The Federal Government’s decision to channel funds directly to the local government followed the Supreme Court’s ruling affirming the autonomy of the councils.

However, although the apex court ruling mandates direct allocation of funds to councils, thereby bying state governments, there have been concerns about compliance.

An example is Anambra State where a state law provides that local government funds can only be disbursed through a t state/local government .

According to the source, the Federal Government constituted the anti-corruption team to monitor the s of the councils in a bid to prevent illegal diversion by governors and ensure financial ability and autonomy at the grassroots level.

Shedding light on the stringent measures to track financial activities across the councils, he added: “If any local government chairman does anything untoward, people will know, and he may be invited by the anti-corruption agencies to answer for it.”

The source noted that council chairmen should now take full responsibility for their financial operations.

He said: “Local government chairmen should know that because monies are going directly to them, they have no excuse to say the governor has diverted their funds.

“They should be careful and know they will be held responsible.”

He warned that any chairman found transferring bulk funds back to state governors would face the consequences.

The source added: “If a chairman disposes of the money in bulk to the state government, of course, he will have to answer for it.

“Anti-corruption agencies are closely monitoring these transactions to ensure compliance.

“If LGA monies are tied to the t in violation of the law, the anti-corruption agencies, especially the IC, will intervene.

“After LGAs receive their funds, if they choose to transfer it to the state government, that’s their decision.

“However, if this violates the law, the anti-corruption team will act accordingly.”

The source expressed confidence that these measures would strengthen financial transparency and improve service delivery at the grassroots level.

“This initiative is a game-changer. It not only protects local government allocations but also holds chairmen able for their financial decisions.

“This is a step in the right direction for Nigeria’s democracy,” the source said.

https://thenationonlineng.net/algon-774-councils-to-open-dedicated-s-with-cbn/

👍

EFCC should have an office at each Local Govt council.


-Kiss the truth!

We finally have a working country

This is how to run a country

PBAT should have been our first President

Fantastic.

A massive upper cut to Governors planning to sabotage local government financial autonomy.

Messrs Soludo and Oti's new laws to force Anambra and Abia local governments to receive their payments into a t State and local government is now worthless.

Now, no need for the Attorney General to waste 2 years fighting those laws through the courts while financial autonomy is grounded.

Mr Tinubu and his Lagos boys have shown again that their brain is full of Lagos streetwise-ness.

Make dem no transfer the money back to their state governors.

Sheuns:
Make dem no transfer the money back to their state governors.

That'll be unlawful transfer.

Any Chairman that does that, unless for monies genuinely owed to the State government, will have EFCC on his/her back.

Also, if a local government constituents see what local government Chairmen in other states are doing for their people, any Chairman that transfers his local government's monies to the State will be under immense pressure from his constituents.

The Governor of that State will get a lot of bad press, and come under pressure.

All of these will make wholesale transfer of local government funds to a State government unsustainable, and too much headache for both the Chairman and the Governor.

The government waited to secure Governors for the tax bills before announcing this policy.

Brilliant politicking by the Government.

What criteria will they use to share the monthly allocation to the various local governments?

It was Obasanjo that truncated local government autonomy. Just because of his 2nd term bid. He needed the governors because Atiku was pressing his neck that time.

He used this local government stuff to buy the governors over ...

ASAP

This news go pain Edo State Governor. I hope the state will not mandate each LGA to remit some percent to the state because most governors re thieves

This is where State need Anti Graft Agencies and Auditor General for Local Governments

TimeManager:


https://thenationonlineng.net/algon-774-councils-to-open-dedicated-s-with-cbn/

Would these so called '''autonomous'' LGAs be able to pay their staff salaries, including primary school teachers, their pensions, gratuity, construct LG roads in their neighbourhood, construct markets, take care of primary health care, pay the nurses, handle sanitation, environment, etc?.
We seem to provide knee-jerk reactions/solutions to very serious issues in this country

This is federal control which is actually unlawful.

A

Godfullsam:
What criteria will they use to share the monthly allocation to the various local governments?

Equally because local governments creation are mostly based on many factors, including the size and population of a state. Reason states do not have equal numbers of local governments.

mikeapollo:

Would these so called '''autonomous'' LGAs be able to pay their staff salaries, including primary school teachers, their pensions, gratuity, construct LG roads in their neighbourhood, construct markets, take care of primary health care, pay the nurses, handle sanitation, environment, etc?.
We seem to provide knee-jerk reactions/solutions to very serious issues in this country

Illiterate ipob.. two faced hypocrite

what is working, ore

EmperorCaesar:



We finally have a working country

This is how to run a country

PBAT should have been our first President

Ha

mikeapollo:

Would these so called '''autonomous'' LGAs be able to pay their staff salaries, including primary school teachers, their pensions, gratuity, construct LG roads in their neighbourhood, construct markets, take care of primary health care, pay the nurses, handle sanitation, environment, etc?.
We seem to provide knee-jerk reactions/solutions to very serious issues in this country

That's why we have trunk A,trunk B and trunk C sections in government....any infrastructure that falls under each trunk category will be provided by emphasised type of government....for example trunk c roads are roads that falls under the local government jurisdictions so any construction or maintenance will be done by the local government same with others too

The kind fight wey go burst out ehhhhhh

Many LGAs in Nigeria will get above N1b monthly so they shouldn't have problems, especially with efficient internal generated revenue drive.
I see things getting better though, we'll also see many sabotage efforts. The media, anti graft agencies and the judiciary must be up and doing too.

mikeapollo:

Would these so called '''autonomous'' LGAs be able to pay their staff salaries, including primary school teachers, their pensions, gratuity, construct LG roads in their neighbourhood, construct markets, take care of primary health care, pay the nurses, handle sanitation, environment, etc?.
We seem to provide knee-jerk reactions/solutions to very serious issues in this country

My question is, "have we set aside the Constitution in favour of Supreme Court order?"
Next may be 3rd term order.

This is how anarchy starts.

I'm not against autonomy but constitutional provisions must be altered by only NATIONAL ASSEMBLY

Alhamdulillah!

May Allah guide all of them!

TimeManager:


https://thenationonlineng.net/algon-774-councils-to-open-dedicated-s-with-cbn/

You mean they have not done this since the court judgement?

This now rests on citizens to hold these councillors and LG chairmen able. We may not reach the governors, but our LG offices are within reach. The FG should publish how much each local government receives each month so it can be duly followed. This is a step in the right direction. President Tinubu did this right and a big kudos to him.

Godfullsam:
What criteria will they use to share the monthly allocation to the various local governments?

The one they have been using before

A Masterstroke from Jagaban's Genius

At last, the third tier of government can have a financial breather from the greedy governors in the main before full autonomy comes. It has taken decades after the order was destroyed in the '66 coup.

Other governments were hesitant, well reluctant, or shall we say had no guts to pull this off? But PBAT demonstrated strong leadership to wrestle this from the marauding governors.

It's time for the LGAS to clear their desks, roll up their sleeves and get cracking. So much time has been lost on grassroot development.

DeLaRue:


That'll be unlawful transfer.

Any Chairman that does that, unless for monies genuinely owed to the State government, will have EFCC on his/her back.

Also, if a local government constituents see what local government Chairmen in other states are doing for their people, any Chairman that transfers his local government's monies to the State will be under immense pressure from his constituents.

The Governor of that State will get a lot of bad press, and come under pressure.

All of these will make wholesale transfer of local government funds to a State government unsustainable, and too much headache for both the Chairman and the Governor.

I tired for Naija political high service. Why would a chairman transfer money back to governor? That he didn't know how to use the money to develop his people directly or what?

APC and lies

Even a new girlfriend can open Opay in 30mins to receive money from her boyfriend

It reach APC turn, opening and submitting turned to rocket science

They should just tell us what exactly they are waiting for

Like someone rightly pointed out, they are taking LG control away from SGs and giving it to FG in a supposed federal system of govt with states as federation units.

This is more like a unitarian move. Aguiyi Ironsi will be green with envy in his grave