Many state governments appear to be still weighing their options on local government financial autonomy, following the recent threat by President Bola Tinubu that he may be compelled to issue an Executive Order to ensure direct allocations to the councils.

Only a handful of states claim they have commenced the implementation of the July 2024 ruling of the Supreme Court granting financial autonomy to the third tier of government.

Early this month, the apex court slammed the federal government for failing to implement the July 2024 judgment.

The court said that there was “no credible evidence before it that the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) had initiated or completed the needed modalities to give effect to its judgment.”

And speaking at the 15th National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting of the All Progressives Congress (APC) recently in Abuja, President Tinubu warned state governors that he might be compelled to issue an Executive Order to ensure direct allocations to the local governments if they fail to comply with a Supreme Court ruling.

“The Supreme Court has capped it for you again, saying, ‘give them their money directly.’ If you wait for my Executive Order, because I have the knife, I have the yam, I will cut it. I’m just being very respectful and understanding with my governors. Otherwise, if you don’t start to implement it, FAAC after FAAC, you will see,” Tinubu said.

Soon after the July 2024 ruling of the Supreme Court, the office of the Attorney General of the Federation and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) set in motion a process for the local governments to open accounts with the bank where their allocations could be paid into.

The process dragged on for some time before it all came to an abrupt end.

Sources in the CBN said the governors piled pressure on the federal government officials to frustrate the process.

Up till now, local governments’ share of revenue passes the State Joint Local Government Accounts mandated by Section 162(6) of the 1999 Constitution.

The provision is a mechanism where federal allocations to the local governments are pooled with 10% of a state’s internally generated revenue. Although the intention is to manage funds efficiently, governors often use it to control and often delay or divert these funds, eroding the local government’s autonomy.

Officials of Akwa Ibom, Adamawa, Nasarawa and Cross River State Governments told our correspondents that the LG financial autonomy was realty in their states.

An official of the Oyo State government said LG financial autonomy cannot be enforced until the relevant section of the constitution is amended, while officials of Abia, Ogun, Borno, Yobe, Imo and Niger states kept mute when contacted on the issue.

Akwa Ibom State Information Commissioner Aniekan Umanah said Governor Umo Eno had always supported the LG financial autonomy.

Umanah said that even before the Supreme Court judgment, the governor never tampered with local government funds.

“Governor Umo Eno is a lover of grassroots development, and that is why he is in full support of the President’s directive for funds to be sent to local governments directly,” Umanah said.

“Local governments in the state are embarking on projects and awarding contracts, carrying out empowerment for people at the grassroots, just because the state government does not tamper with their money.

“To the Governor, Tinubu’s renewed directive is not just a directive but a moral duty for all governors across the country to allow their third tier of government to be financially independent.

“Take a visit to the 31 local government areas of the state, and you will confirm what I am saying that this government aligns with the President’s mandate to uplift local communities,” he said.

Mr Humwashi Wonosikou, Chief Press Secretary to Adamawa State Governor Adamu Fintiri, said the state government granted financial autonomy to the LGs long before the Supreme Court’s ruling.

“We can’t have any problem with the president’s threat over implementation of the Supreme Court ruling on the local government financial autonomy,” Wonosikou said when contacted.

However, the execution of joint projects sometimes casts doubts on the claims of the state government.

About two months ago, for instance, questions were raised over a directive by the state government to the 21 LGs to contribute N500,000 each monthly to the sanitation exercise spearheaded every month by the state government.

The Nasarawa State Government said that Governor Abdullahi Sule, shortly after the ruling, sent an executive bill to the state House of Assembly, scrapping the joint local government account.

Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Public Affairs, Peter Ahemba, said:” In Nasarawa State, the Governor has long been releasing all that is meant for the councils, and nobody touches one kobo that belongs to them.

“All the 13 local government areas in Nasarawa State are enjoying their money without one kobo being deducted anywhere. The governor is determined to run a transparent and accountable system of government, and he respects the fact that local government is the third arm of government and deserves full financial autonomy to enable them address challenges at the grassroots.”

Cross River State Finance Commissioner Erasmus Ekpang told The Nation that no LG in the state can have cause to complain about the deduction of its revenue allocation.

“They get their share of finances and manage it themselves. Cross River is in total compliance with Mr President’s directive.

“We’ve not had any sort of complaints from any of our 18 local governments. They have their autonomy; how they unofficially or officially manage their finances is up to them. They get their shares from the State government as it comes and manages by themselves,” he said.

OYSG: Constitution must be amended first

The Oyo State Government is of the view that the issue of the LG financial autonomy is a constitutional one, and until the needful is done, it will be difficult to enforce.

Special Adviser (Media) to the Oyo State Governor, Dr Sulaimon Olanrewaju, said the Constitution specifies that local government funds from the Federation Account should be paid into State Joint Local Government Accounts.

Olanrewaju said the Oyo State government is not dependent on local governments’ resources, as the Seyi Makinde administration has increased the IGR manyfold and has also made critical investments, which have put the state in a good financial state.

Olanrewaju said, “To set the records straight, the 1999 Constitution (as amended) is clear on this matter. The Local Government funds from the Federation Account must be paid into a State Joint Local Government Account. That is in Section 162(5) of the 1999 Constitution.

“Similarly, Section 162(6) mandates each state to maintain a State Joint Local Government Account for pooling LG allocations from the Federation Account and the state itself.

“The reason for the joint account by the two tiers of government is that there are certain schemes, such as basic education, which are jointly funded by these governments.

“Unless there is a common purse by the two tiers of government, such critical sectors may suffer neglect, and this could jeopardise the well-being of many people.

“So, until the constitution that is in use in the country is amended, the President would be overreaching himself by instructing that payment be made directly to the local governments.”

Officials of Abia, Ogun, Borno, Yobe, Imo and Niger state governments were mute when contacted.

NULGE President slams FG over LG allocation, says governors not guilty

The President of the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) in Imo State, Comrade Charles Okechukwu Okere, says the governors are not to blame for the matter.

“The FG knows what to do if they sincerely want to pay local government funds into the LG account,” he said in an interview.

He explained that governors are not involved in the transfer of funds from the central purse to various accounts, and therefore, should not be held responsible for the implementation of the Supreme Court judgment.

Okere noted that in Imo State, Governor Hope Uzodimma pays local government funds into LG accounts.

He added: “If the Supreme Court interpreted the law and authorised the FG to pay directly to LG accounts and they pay instead into the state accounts, who is committing contempt of court, the FG or the governors?”

The NULGE president urged the Federal Government to pay local government allocations directly into LG accounts, citing that governors receive funds similarly.

He emphasised that the current system, where funds are moved into a Joint Account and then to LG accounts, incurs unnecessary bank charges. (The Nation)