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ALGON: 774 Councils To Set Up Accounts With CBN To Receive Direct Allocation
- NFIU to monitor spending
- Fraudulent chairmen, other officials for prosecution by EFCC, ICPC
The 774 local governments are to open dedicated accounts with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for the direct disbursement of allocations to them from the Federation Account, the Association of Local Governments (ALGON) said yesterday.
The National President, Bello Lawal Yandaki, said the opening of the account 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 accounts.
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, accountability 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 (ICPC) 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 Accounts 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 accounts 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 account 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 administrative 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 bypassing 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 joint state/local government account.
According to the source, the Federal Government constituted the anti-corruption team to monitor the accounts of the councils in a bid to prevent illegal diversion by governors and ensure financial accountability 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 joint account in violation of the law, the anti-corruption agencies, especially the ICPC, 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 accountable for their financial decisions.
“This is a step in the right direction for Nigeria’s democracy,” the source said.
President Bola Tinubu met with security chiefs, including Tunji Disu, the inspector-general of police (IGP) in a closed-door session on Thursday to address a series of “rising terror attacks” across the country.
The meeting followed an escalation in violence, including recent deadly raids in Benue, Plateau, and Borno states.
The nearly two-hour meeting, held at the State House in Abuja, began in the afternoon after the security chiefs arrived discreetly and ended around 5:10 p.m.
Those in attendance included Christopher Musa, minister of defence; Nuhu Ribadu, national security adviser (NSA); Adeola Ajayi, the director-general of the Department of State Services (DSS); and Olufemi Oluyede, chief of defence staff (CDS).
Others were Waidi Shaibu, the chief of army staff; Kelvin Aneke, chief of air staff; and Idi Abbas, chief of naval staff.
As of the time of filing this report, details of the meeting had yet to be issued by the presidency.
However, there are indications that the sit-down may centre around the rising terror attacks and intensified assaults on military outposts across Nigeria, particularly in the north-east, which culminated in the recent killing of several high-ranking officers.
On Monday, a commanding officer of the Nigerian Army was killed following an attack by suspected fighters of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) on a military base in Kukawa, Borno state.
The attack came about a week after suspected Boko Haram and ISWAP fighters attempted to attack military positions in Ngoshe, Gwoza LGA of Borno.
On Tuesday, Nigerian troops repelled an early-morning attack by suspected ISWAP fighters on a military base in Doron Baga, Kukawa LGA of the state.
Speaking during an interfaith breaking of the fast with members of the Nigerian Armed Forces at the presidential villa in Abuja last Friday, Tinubu said the country would “ultimately prevail against all forms” of insecurity.
The president said the efforts of the security forces had continued to weaken terrorist groups and bandits operating in different parts of the country.
He assured the armed forces of continued investment in modern equipment, intelligence, and logistics to strengthen their operational effectiveness.
In a major political shake-up on Thursday,12 members of the House of Representatives formally defected from their various political parties to the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the African Democratic Congress (ADC).
The Deputy Speaker, Benjamin Kalu, announced the defections during a plenary session, citing internal party crises and leadership disputes as the primary reasons for the lawmakers’ exit.
Of the 12 lawmakers who defected, six left the Peoples Democratic Party for the APC. Five members abandoned the Labour Party and the PDP for the ADC, while one member moved from the Young Progressives Party to the ADC.
The development has heightened concerns about growing instability within political parties ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Those who defected from the PDP to the APC are James Barka (Adamawa), Kwamoti Bitrus Laori (Adamawa), Zakaria Nyampa (Adamawa), Kobis Thimnu (Adamawa), Midala Balami (Borno), and Mohammed Bargaja (Sokoto).
Lawmakers who defected to the ADC include Afam Victor Ogene (Anambra), Peter Aniekwe (Anambra), Lilian Orogbu (Anambra), Jessey Onakalusi (Lagos), and Murphy Osaro Omoruyi (Edo).
The Deputy Speaker of the House, Benjamin Kalu, who presided over plenary, disclosed that some other members had also written to the leadership of the House notifying it of their intention to leave their current parties.
He, however, said the letters and the destination parties of the lawmakers would not be disclosed in their absence.
While announcing the names of the defectors, Kalu said the reasons given by the lawmakers were similar to those previously cited by others who had defected. He added that the House would not read the letters during the session in order to save time.
According to him, the letters would only be read when the concerned lawmakers are present on the floor of the House.
During Wednesday’s plenary, Garba Inuwa and Abdullahi El-Rasheed from Gombe, as well as Mohammed Audu (Taraba) and Joshua Obika (FCT), defected to the APC, while Adewale Adebayo (Osun) left the PDP for the Accord Party.
In a series of tense exchanges spanning late 2025 and early 2026, Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly warned Donald Trump and the international community that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has already escalated into the beginning of World War III due to Russian aggression and its growing alliances.
While Zelensky has warned that Vladimir Putin’s actions are dragging the world into a global conflict, Trump has frequently flipped this narrative, accusing Zelensky of “gambling with World War Three” by refusing to make immediate concessions for a peace deal.
“I said that we would have World War III. The President (Trump) didn’t hear me…him with his guys,” Zelensky said in a televised interview on Wednesday.
“I’m not sure they (the United States) can estimate that Russia will support Iran with weapons, drones, and missiles. And—100 percent—it’s helping now with air defense.”
Pointing to the situation in his country, Zelensky said the next stage of the Iranian war could be troop deployment, saying there are 10,000 North Korean soldiers currently in Russia.
“Yes, they are on the territory of Russia, but they can come to Ukraine,” he presumed. “It can be the same with Iran; Russia can send troops.”
Zelensky said countries in the Middle East have remained neutral on the Ukrainian conflict because of their long history of economic relations with Moscow.
“They understand Russia is the aggressor but are not loud about it or strong on sanctions,” he said. “Now they are beginning to understand what it means to live under attacks.”
Reports in Western media suggest Russia is sharing drone warfare strategy learned in Ukraine with Iran, potentially boosting Tehran’s ability to hit U.S. and Gulf interests in the Middle East.
The war, now on Day 13, has affected at least a dozen countries, with no ceasefire indication in sight. The U.S. has struck thousands of targets and has not indicated boots on the ground.
“They (Iran) are pretty much at the end of the line,” President Trump said Wednesday night. “It doesn’t mean we’re going to end it immediately.”
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