The Presidency has announced that everything is set starting for all local government areas across Nigeria to be receiving their allocations directly from the Federal Allocation Account Committee (FAAC) by end of January, this marks a significant step towards local government autonomy.
This was according to Special Adviser to the President on Media and Public Communications, Sunday Dare, who made this disclosure during an interview on Arise News on Thursday night.
He expressed that President Bola Tinubu’s commitment to implementing the Supreme Court’s landmark July 2024 judgment, which declared state control over local government funds unconstitutional.
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, the court mandated direct payments to local councils.
The judgment followed 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, implementation had been delayed to ensure proper mechanisms were in place. Dare confirmed that these arrangements are now complete, paving the way for local governments to begin receiving funds directly by the end of January.
“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.
Dare also called for greater scrutiny of state and local government financial management. “One state collected N499 billion last year—nearly four times its previous allocation—yet there’s little to show for it,” he noted.
He explained that the Federal Government always faces criticism on local government autonomy, the attention must also shift to how states and local governments utilize their resources.
“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 added
