The Supreme Court ruling that granted full autonomy to local government areas (LGAs) in Nigeria came as a pleasant surprise to many. It was a plus for the government of President Bola Tinubu. One of the desirable implications of the judgment was that the local councils were to receive their allocations directly from the federation account without passing through the state governments.

The financial autonomy granted the local governments was also expected to translate to greater development in the council areas. But across the country, while some local government chairmen claim that they receive direct allocation from the federal government, others cannot say so for different reasons. Among this category are those who do not want to incur the wrath of their state governors, even as the local governments struggle to survive.

The court judgment notwithstanding, investigations by Saturday Sun across the country revealed that nothing has really changed, as governors still maintain a strong hold on the allocations of the councils, thereby making financial autonomy for the local governments a mirage.

Findings also show that in most of the states, council chairmen only get between N10 million and N70 million every month. In some cases, what they get is security votes, while all other expenditures are controlled by the governors through their Commissioners for Local Government.

There are indications, however, that there are just a few states where council chairmen are likely to get their allocations directly from the federation account. Osun is one of them. But even at that, Saturday Sun gathered that as at last week, they were yet to access the funds even after the required opening of an account with the Central Bank of Nigeria.

Shortly after the autonomy was granted, some states, including Anambra and Lagos, passed laws that require the local governments to, on their own, transfer a certain amount of their allocation to the state governments. On the other hand, the Federal Government is believed to have not shown sufficient will to implement the Supreme Court decision, having set several deadlines for its implementation and missed them.

Anambra

Following the Supreme Court judgment, which affirmed the autonomy of local governments in the country, some council chairmen claim that they now carry out some development projects like renovation of schools, road grading, and primary healthcare provisions, among others.

Chairman of Aguata local government who is also the chairman, Association of Local Government of Nigeria (ALGON) Anambra State chapter, Dr. Chibuike Oforbuike said that the local councils are prospering presently under Governor Chukwuma Soludo?s administration.

?Local government system cannot be said to be an appendage of the state government in Anambra. Never before have we seen a very robust local government system like now where every local government is expected to carry out certain very important responsibilities of government. Like the issue of security, the Anambra security system is structured around the local governments.

?The issue of environment, waste management and provision of other basic infrastructures are carried out at the local government levels in the state. Anambra local government system is very robust and result-oriented and the people are very much happy for what the Mayors are doing and are allowed to do in their various local government areas,? he stated.

Oyo

In Oyo State, the joint account is no longer in operation for the 33 LGAs of the state, as government sources claim the local governments now receive their allocations from Abuja.

?I can confirm to you that the local governments now receive their allocations directly from Abuja. The council chairmen have been receiving alerts on a monthly basis.

?Their allocations are no longer going into the joint account,? one official said.

But investigations show that the local government chairmen have been mandated to sign first-line charges, including salaries of primary teachers, and the Amotekun Corps.

The state government coordinates projects for the local governments and the council chairmen are mandated to sign for the money to be deducted from their accounts anytime the federal allocation comes to each of the local governments.

For instance, the state government recently coordinated the purchase of vehicles for the chairmen, and when their allocations came, they received bank alerts indicating that the amount they signed for had been deducted from their accounts.

It was further gathered that all the 33 local government chairmen in the state have pulled out of ALGON over the Supreme Court?s judgment, which granted financial autonomy to local governments across the country.

One of the council chairmen in the state told Saturday Sun that they would have preferred to receive their allocations directly without the interference of the state government, but none of them can dare the governor for as long as the state House of Assembly has powers to suspend local government chairmen.

Imo

By October this year, elected council chairmen in Imo State would have spent one year in office out of their two-year tenure. But in spite of the monthly federal allocations that come to the councils, not much has been seen in terms of development in the council areas.

With the exception of Owerri Municipal and Owerri North, most of the council headquarters are difficult to access because of the deplorable state of their access roads. Major roads in the various communities across the 27 council areas are in bad condition. Similarly, public schools and healthcare centres in most of the communities are in a bad shape.

It was also discovered that most of the council chairmen reside in Owerri, the state capital, away from their respective councils, making it difficult for them to appreciate the plight of the rural people.

When Saturday Sun contacted Hon. Victor Osigwe, Chairman of Owerri West Local Government, he declined to speak on the projects he has executed since he assumed office in October last year. The council chairman told our correspondent to come back some other time as he was about to attend an August Meeting at Okuku community. He did not reveal whether he receives the council?s monthly allocation directly from the federation account.

?Any information concerning allocation, you should ask the ALGON state chairman, because it is from there we get all our information,? he said.

Similarly, Hon. Chinedu Nwachukwu, chairman of Ezinihitte Mbaise Local Government, refused to mention any project he has embarked upon or completed. It was the same for the council chairman of Obowo Local Government Area, Mr. Johnson Ehirim.

Meanwhile, investigations carried out by Saturday Sun revealed that the council chairmen are financially hamstrung as they only receive money for the payment of staff salaries from the state government monthly, and as a result, can hardly execute projects.

A leader of one of the councils who agreed to speak only on the condition of anonymity, said that his council?s official allocation from FAAC is N300.8 million, but the council only receives N70 million, which covers staff salaries, allowances and imprest.

?The problem is that we don?t receive the money from the Federal Government because we are given only N70 million out of the N300.8 million that comes as federal allocation.? It was also gathered that the state government introduced what is called ?the Joint State/Local Government Project Fund,? which means that projects sited by the state government in any particular council area must be jointly funded.

?But we have not seen any in this council. This is the situation we have found ourselves in. By this October it will be one year since we took office and there is nothing tangible to show,? a council chairman told Saturday Sun.

Bayelsa

Before the Supreme Court ruling which granted full autonomy to local government councils in Nigeria, local government councils in Bayelsa said they had been enjoying autonomy. The state governor, Sen. Douye Diri had declared at several fora that the eight local government councils in the state have autonomy. Investigations into the state?s monthly transparency briefings revealed that the state government has been providing funds to augment the finances of local councils to pay primary school teachers.

State officials also claim that evidence that the local government councils have full autonomy has manifested in the quality of projects being embarked upon by the council chairmen, 16 months after their inauguration.

In Yenagoa local government, the chairman, Bulodisiye Ndiwari, recently completed a 30-bed primary healthcare centre in Tein, Biseni. He has also initiated and completed the construction of the Lott Road, Famgbe, water projects at Okutukutu, and a solar-powered borehole at Biseni.

Diri, during the commissioning of the project said it was a reflection of what local government funds should be channelled into. On his part, Ndiwari stated that the autonomy the local government enjoys has enabled it to have funds to execute projects.

In Brass Local Government, the chairman, Lucky Febo, while presenting a N7.23 billion budget to the legislative arm, harped on the full autonomy in the state, which he said, ensured that 61.8 per cent of the total budget was allocated to capital expenditure to demonstrate commitment to infrastructure advancement. Febo, at the first anniversary of his administration, which was celebrated April 29, 2025, reeled out projects embarked upon by his administration to include ongoing construction of an 822-square metre playground in Ewo-Ama community, construction of the Minibie-Ogbokiri concrete road, procurement of three 18-seater buses to enhance transportation of council workers, construction of 12-room toilet facilities at Egweama, renovation of six classrooms and staff quarters at Okpoama and construction of 1,000-seater capacity ultra-modern town hall.

In Ekeremor LGA, the Onniye Isaac-led administration has embarked on projects spanning education and energy. This includes the construction of the primary school building in Ogbosuware, and solar electrification at Azagbene.

In Sagbama, Saturday Sun found out that Mrs. Alice Tangi Allen has spearheaded the ongoing construction of a primary healthcare centre, Akeddei; the construction of two bungalow apartments at Bolu-Orua for fire victims; the renovation of six classroom blocks at Tungbabiri community primary school; as well as the renovation of Elemebiri market.

Ebonyi

Local government chairmen in Ebonyi State say they have been receiving their monthly allocations directly from the federal government.

Chairman of ALGON in the state, Augustine Uburu disclosed this to our correspondents in Abakaliki, the state capital. He noted that since Governor Francis Nwifuru came into office, council chairmen in the state have always received their monthly allocations directly from the federal government.

?We have always received our allocations here in Ebonyi State. So, whether we are receiving directly from the federal government or not, what we do here in Ebonyi State is quite different from what they do in other states of the federation.

?Here, the council chairmen are fully in charge of their allocations. Our governor doesn?t interfere with our allocations,? he said.

Uburu explained that he has executed projects including culverts, bridges, roads and others with the allocations apart from prompt payment of salaries of workers in his local government. ?When you come to my local government, you will see many projects we have executed. You will see roads, street lights, culverts, bridges, classroom blocks and other projects we have done.?

On his part, the chairman of Ezza North LGA, Chief Ogodo Ali Nomeh, said he has also utilized the federal allocations properly by executing people-oriented projects in the local government. ?We have been receiving our allocations directly from the federal government. The governor doesn?t give us the allocations, we receive it directly from the federal government and it has been like that since two years of the governor?s administration.

?When you come to our local government, you will see what we have done. Recently, there was a downpour in our local government, which pulled down many electricity poles. We have mounted fresh electricity poles and fixed the light issues.

Borno

In Borno State, our correspondent reports that local government chairmen have started providing basic infrastructure in the local areas following the Supreme Court?s landmark judgment. Some council chairmen who preferred anonymity told Saturday Sun that local government administrations in the state have been building market stalls, renovating markets and comprehensive health centres, as well as constructing desks and chairs for primary school pupils after receiving monthly allocations.

Some officials of the state Ministry of Local Government and Emirate Affairs also said some councils are constructing culverts on rural roads.

It is, however, not clear if the 27 local government areas in the state have been receiving their monthly statutory allocation from the federation account in full or in part as both the officials and council chairmen declined to comment on this, describing it as sensitive.

Kaduna

There are claims that the 23 LGAs of Kaduna State enjoy financial autonomy, as Governor Uba Sani had assured them of free hands to allow them bring development to the grassroots. But when our correspondent made some contacts about recent development projects by the local government chairmen, there were mixed feelings and reactions.

One official said: ?There is no doubt that staff at that level are enjoying regular salary and other allowances, but as for direct huge allocations to the local governments, I cannot say because I have not seen any tangible developments yet.

?You know, the allocations to each local government area varies; it ranges from N500 million to N700 million per local government area. So until the people begin to see direct projects executed by the chairmen, that is when we can be convinced that there is direct financial autonomy to the local government areas in the state.? But Governor Sani had repeatedly said that his administration will continue to grant the 23 local governments in the state financial autonomy.

?The local governments in Kaduna State have been enjoying financial autonomy in the past eight years and our administration shall continue with that. Local government chairmen should focus on developmental projects, the era of buying items and distributing to the people is over.

?The state government would partner with local governments for joint projects on infrastructural development but we need to know what project will benefit our people most,? Sani said. Meanwhile, government officials, the leadership of ALGON, and council chairmen were not willing to speak about financial autonomy.

Cross River

Funding to local governments in the state was impacted earlier this year when the state government enacted and assented to a law which mandates councils to make some contributions to some state activities.

These include a monthly deduction of one per cent from gross allocation of LGAs for House of Assembly oversight functions, 0.5 per cent from gross allocation of LGAs to the State Community and Social Development Agency. Others are a monthly deduction of one per cent from gross allocation of LGAs to the funding of the University of Cross River State while 0.5 percent from gross allocation of LGAs is for the office of the State Auditor General. The councils are to make a monthly contribution of N1 million each for the Cross River State Reserve Fund as well as four per cent from the gross allocation to the Cross River State Road Maintenance Agency.

Checks by our correspondent also revealed that most of the council funds are being used to execute some joint projects with the state government.

A comprehensive list of such projects was not made available to Saturday Sun as most chairmen have yet to properly render their account of stewardship in office. There are also hardly any visible developments in most of the 18 councils across the state since their inauguration.

In most parts of the state, the challenge of poor feeder roads, sanitation mismanagement, decrepit primary schools and lack of access to water for the rural populace is still very rampant. But Etim Asido, chairman of the Odukpani LGA, in an interview with our correspondent confirmed that the funds actually get to them.

?We receive the funds directly and are also executing a lot of counterpart funding projects with the state government.

?In Odukpani for instance we have a legacy project of construction of a new ultramodern secretariat for the local government.

?We also have other legacy projects of the construction of a trailer park, shopping centre and a motor park. We are pushing these projects so that we can generate more revenue,? he said. Emmanuel Ona, Press Secretary to the Yala Local Government Chairman, Dr. Fred Okim, enumerated the projects currently being executed by the council helmsmen.

There is a comprehensive health Centre at Aliforkpa, Yache ward. Similarly, there are Operiku-Wanokom Ring Road, Woleche Ebo Road, Wonye Road and the Gabu- Aliforkpa Road.

?Others include the Gabu-Oda road, Idah-Lema-Ukelle ring road, Olachor-Yasco Ring Road are all ongoing in the area and are altogether about 155km. ?The Yala Council is also rehabilitating its political block, legislative block, furnishing the same and also erecting a perimeter fence around the council,? the press secretary said, even as he could not tell if the funds directly get to the council areas.

Benue

In Benue State Governor, Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Alia, was said to have been implementing local government autonomy before the Supreme Court judgment that made it mandatory.

Our correspondent gathered that as a result of that, most local governments in the state are beginning to wear new looks following the projects executed by the chairmen, some of which are in partnership with the state government. Chairman of Katsina-Ala LGA, Hon. Justin Shaku told Saturday Sun that ?Before now, the local government couldn?t do anything but because of the autonomy that has been granted to us in the state, we have started executing projects that are giving our rural areas a facelift.

?In Katsina-Ala, we have remodelled the chairman?s office, and a police station which was blown off by the wind some time ago. We have also embarked on Operation Feed Yourself where farmers are supported to plant crops as part of efforts to fight food insecurity.

?Within a short time we have also opened three Child and Technical Schools as part of a Catch Them Young initiative for the younger generation. We have also empowered over 1,000 youths and women to acquire various skills. This is so they can acquire skills to be self-reliant and not join terrorists and gangster groups and in the long run tackle insecurity in the axis,? he said.

Also speaking, the chairman of Ado LGA, Hon. Sunday Oche said within his short stay in office, he has been able to bring over seven primary healthcare units to Ado LGA and has equipped them with solar powered refrigerators and solar powered lights.

?We have equipped all LG secretariat offices with chairs. The LG was cut off from the national grid for close to 30 years. This administration has restored electricity to the place and in partnership with the state government, Ado LG has attracted a project worth about N25 billion being a road construction between Igumale and Agila.?

Oche who noted that the autonomy has been in existence in the state said after the Supreme Court judgment, the governor had been complying fully with it and has fully implemented the autonomy. (Saturday Sun)

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