The Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) has explained that it is still unable to implement the Supreme Court ruling on direct allocation to local government areas because the majority of them have not been able to provide bank accounts.

It said only the 25 local government areas of Delta State, out of the 774 local government areas in the federation, have met the requirements for direct allocation.

FAAC last week held its meeting, during which it shared N1.703 trillion to the federal, state, and local government areas as January 2025 revenue.

However, it maintained the status quo of paying both the state and local government shares into their various joint state accounts.

Last year, the National Assembly passed the local government autonomy bill, which was subsequently signed into law by the President. But that did not go down well with state governors, who went to the Supreme Court hoping to invalidate the local government autonomy law. However, on July 11, 2024, the Supreme Court ruled that local government areas, being the third tier of government, should be autonomous and receive their allocations directly from FAAC.

The Director of Press and Public Relations, Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, Mr. Bawa Mokwa, told our reporter that it is not yet clear what the local government areas are planning. He explained that they were supposed to have opened an account with the Central Bank of Nigeria or indicated that they wish to be paid through the Federal Pay Office in their states, but they have not done so.

According to him, ?It is only local governments in Delta State that have completed their processes, but they cannot be paid in isolation; they still have to wait for others to be ready.?

He said it is because of the indecision of the local government authorities that the Accountant General of the Federation warned Federal Pay Officers, during her tour of federal pay offices in the country, to ensure that no local government is allowed to operate an account with a commercial bank, insisting that they should ensure the full implementation of the Treasury Single Account (TSA) in all local government areas.

Speculations are rife that the local government chairmen are afraid of incurring the wrath of the state governors should they go ahead with the process of obtaining direct allocation. (The Guardian)

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