Governors of the 36 states of the federation will meet today over the court judgement, which upheld the position of the Federal Government and the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) on financial autonomy for local governments.
Justice Inyang Ekwo of an Abuja Federal High had on Monday directed that the states and local government joint accounts should be used only for receiving funds and subsequently transferring them to local government accounts only. The governors in a statement by Head, Media and Public Affairs of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) Abdulrazaque Bello-Barkindo, said NGF Chairman, Dr Kayode Fayemi, will brief the governors on “the lingering issue of the local governments’ financial autonomy which became topical nationwide.”
The statement added that the teleconference meeting, which will start by 2 pm, will discuss other issues affecting the state chief executives. The NFIU guidelines issued in June 2019 reduced cash withdrawal from local government accounts to N500, 000 daily. It said this was aimed at curbing crime vulnerabilities created by cash withdrawals from local government accounts by various state governments
