Supreme Court Grants Financial Autonomy to Nigeria’s 774 Local Governments

Federal Government Yet to Commence Direct Payment to Nigeria’s 774 Local Government Areas

The Nigerian government has failed to commence direct payment of monthly allocations to the country’s 774 local government areas, despite a Supreme Court judgment granted financial autonomy to the LGAs in July 2024.

The Federal Government has cited “practical impediments” as the reason for not starting the direct payment, said Mr. Wale Edun, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, at a quarterly media briefing. The apex court emphasized the division of government power into three tiers: federal, state, and local governments.

The Federation Account Allocation Committee held its monthly meeting last week, which was supposed to mark the start of the direct disbursement of funds to the LGAs. According to Leadership, the FG stated that it has yet to commence direct payment to the respective LGs due to these impediments.

Edun emphasized that the process is still in its early stages and further steps will be taken once the full details are available. He also stated that a committee has been set up by the FG to look at the practicability of the judgement. The actual proceeding has not been handed down to the Attorney General of the Federation.

Despite the delay, Saturday PUNCH gathered that allocations from the Federation Account to the 774 LGs have increased by N900 billion in the last 12 months.

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