Nigeria’s office of the Accountant General of the Federation has identified major setbacks to the implementation of the July 11, 2024 Supreme Judgement on local government councils autonomy.
According to the government agency, the two major setbacks are the failure of LGAs to submit account details, adding that identifying the LGAs that are democratically elected is a prerequisite for receiving the direct payment.
This was contained in the Federation Account Allocation Committee Technical Sub-Committee meeting, the minutes obtained at the weekend.
The meeting was chaired by AGF, Oluwatoyin Madein.
Meanwhile, the OAGF and Office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice have commenced talks to address the setback, according to sources familiar with the matter.
According to the minutes, 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 had commenced profiling the chairmen and signatories to the bank accounts of the 774 local government areas in the country as part of processes to commence local government autonomy.
The Director of Legal Services at the CBN, Kofo Salam-Alada, in a notice explained that this was necessary to ensure financial accountability.
“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.
ALGON Chairman in Abia State and Chairman of the Mayor Isuikwuato LGA, Chinesu Ekeke, said the CBN had yet to invite any LG 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 comes as the National Union of Local Government Employees earlier warned the CBN against aiding state governors in undermining the financial autonomy of local government councils.
Recall that the Supreme Court had, on July 11, 2024, affirmed the financial autonomy of the 774 local government areas in the country and prohibited governors from further control of 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 unconstitutional.
But eight months after the judgement, the financial autonomy has yet to take effect.
