The Presidency has announced that starting at the end of January, local government areas across Nigeria will begin receiving their allocations directly from the Federal Allocation Account Committee (FAAC), marking a significant move toward local government autonomy.
Sunday Dare, the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Public Communications, made the announcement during an interview on Arise News on Thursday night.
He reiterated President Bola Tinubu’s commitment to enforcing the Supreme Court’s landmark judgment of July 2024, which declared state control over local government funds unconstitutional.
In a unanimous decision delivered by Justice Emmanuel Agbim, the Supreme Court ruled that allocations to local governments should be paid directly or through states.
However, given the inefficacy of the latter method, the court mandated direct payments to local councils.
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The judgment followed a suit filed by the Attorney General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), who had advocated for the financial autonomy of Nigeria’s 774 local government areas.
While the ruling was made, its implementation was delayed to ensure the proper mechanisms were in place. Dare confirmed that these arrangements are now complete, allowing local governments to start receiving funds directly by the end of January.
“We have a President who ensures local government autonomy. I spoke to a local government chairman, who said, ‘Oh, I will be getting N2.9bn, instead of the N200m I was getting before’.
“From the end of this month, LG will receive the money directly,” Dare explained.
Dare also called for greater scrutiny of state and local government financial management.
“One state collected N499 billion last year—nearly four times its previous allocation—yet there’s little to show for it,” he noted.
He emphasized that while the Federal Government frequently faces criticism, focus must also be directed at how states and local governments manage their resources.
“The framers of our constitution created the three tiers of government for a reason. It’s time to hold states and local governments accountable,” Dare added.
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