One year after the Supreme Court’s landmark judgement that granted financial autonomy to local governments, the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led administration has yet to enforce the ruling, as state governments under the leadership of governors continue to have control over the councils’ coffers.
As the third tier of government, local governments are saddled with the responsibilities of ensuring the well-being of the people at the grassroots through provisions of primary education, primary health centres, marketplaces, inner roads, parks, sanitation, among other essential services. But over the years, state governments have usurped these roles.
To reverse the trend, the apex court on July 11, 2024, ruled on a suit filed by the federal government through the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), against the 36 state governments. The lawsuit sought full autonomy for the 774 local governments in Nigeria whose efficiencies have been imperilled by overbearing influence of sub-national governments.
The judgement stopped state governments from collecting and withholding councils’ allocations from the federation account and ordered that the Accountant General of the Federation pay them directly.
“…since payment through states has not worked, the justice of this matter demands that LG allocations from the federation account should henceforth be paid directly to the LGs,” the court held, demanding “an immediate compliance with this judgement.”
In August 2024, a 10-man inter-ministerial committee chaired by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume, was set up to enforce the ruling. Other members of the committee are: Minister of Finance & Coordinating Minister of the Economy; Attorney General of the Federation; Minister of Budget & Economic Planning; Accountant General of the Federation; Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria, Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Finance; Chairman, Revenue Mobilization Allocation & Fiscal Commission; Representative of State Governors and Representative of Local Governments
Findings by Daily Trust revealed that one year down the line, bureaucracies and political manoeuvring have clogged up the implementation of the ruling.
The enforcement first had a setback in August when the federal and state governments reached an agreement on a three-month moratorium over concerns bordering on salary payments of council workers, the need to conduct local government elections in some states, among others.
It hit another brick wall in February 2025 as the CBN directed local governments to provide at least two years of audited financial reports as a prerequisite to receive their allocations directly, insisting they must meet this requirement before they can open accounts for direct remittance of their allocations.
Meanwhile, the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON), the National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE), lawyers and civil society organisations have kicked against what they described as delay tactics, urging the federal government to enforce the judgement forthwith.
In March, ALGON dragged the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), the Federal Republic of Nigeria and 23 others to a federal high court in Abuja, demanding the implementation of the Supreme Court judgement and inclusion of local governments in the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC).
The association contended that the AGF, Ministry of Finance, states’ Commissioners of Finance and CBN had taken “precipitate action to frustrate the implementation of the [Supreme Court’s] decision.”
“After the judgment, we approached the AGF’s office, requesting that local governments be allowed to open accounts with commercial banks of their choice. But the AGF instead directed the CBN to open accounts on their behalf. That defeats the idea of autonomy,” ALGON Secretary General, Muhammed Abubakar, said.
“This directive essentially centralises what should be a decentralised process. It’s a contradiction. We believe true autonomy means each local government should be able to choose its bank and receive its allocation directly, without intermediaries or imposed conditions,” he added.
LGs received N3.408trn through states in 11 months
Daily Trust analysis showed that 11 months after the Supreme Court ruling that restored local government autonomy, over N3.408 trillion accrued to the 774 councils from the federation account was paid to the state and local governments’ joint account.
In July 2024, FAAC distributed N431.079 billion to the federal government, N473, 477bn to the state governments and N343.703bn to local governments. The total amount comprised distributable revenue from various sources, including statutory revenue, Value Added Tax (VAT), Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL), Exchange Difference, and Solid Mineral revenue.
Of the N1.203tn distributable revenue in August 2024, the federal government received N374.93bn; state governments got N422.86bn while councils received N306.53bn. In September 2024, councils collected N306.53bn through state governments, which got N422.86bn of their own while the federal government received N374.92bn. The following month, FAAC shared N1.411 trillion between the federal government, N433.021bn; state governments, N490.696bn and local governments, N355.621bn while N132.404bn (13% of mineral revenue) was shared among the benefiting states as derivation revenue.
In November 2024, the federal government received N581.856bn; state governments got N549.792bn, while local governments received N402.553bn indirectly. In the succeeding month, councils received N361.754bn through state governments, which got N498.498bn of their own, while the federal government received N451.193bn.
In January 2025, state governments got N590.614bn; local governments received N434.567bn, while the federal government collected N552.591bn. In February, local governments received N410.559bn through the joint account; state governments collected N562.195 while the federal government got N569.656bn. The following month, local governments received N165.209bn through the same means, while states and the federal government got N214.290bn and N422.485bn, respectively.
In April, the federal government received N431.31bn; states got N218.77bn, while councils were given N168.66bn. In May, the federal government collected N393.518bn, states received N199.598bn, as local governments got N153.881bn. FAAC has not published the June record as of the time of this publication.
NULGE, lawyers, CSOs flay FG, govs
The National President of NULGE, Aliyu Haruna Kankara, lamented that relevant government agencies meant to enforce the judgement are paying lip service to it. He wondered why the CBN came up with the condition of two-year audited financial reports, stating that the apex bank had not issued any circular or guidelines to local governments on the opening of accounts.
“We expect them to issue a circular or guidelines for local governments to come forward and open accounts, but up to this moment, there is no such thing. The Office of the Accountant General of the Federation or the CBN is supposed to issue this circular. I don’t know what the CBN has got to do with the two-year audited accounts of local governments. I don’t know of any local government that has opened an account with the CBN yet.
“We have continued to engage relevant stakeholders and at the centre, the NLC (Nigeria Labour Congress) is also doing its best. The NLC has even written to Mr. President, seeking his audience so that we can talk to him face-to-face and explain to him that this judgment has not been implemented up to this moment,” Kankara said.
The NULGE president also fingered governors in the delayed enforcement, warning that if the federal government continued to buy time, the union might embark on mass protests.
“These are the same people who have been truncating efforts made to grant local government autonomy. They are the same people who have been working tirelessly to ensure that they continue to control the resources of local governments. From the information available to us, they are the same people blocking the implementation of this Supreme Court judgment. They are just playing politics with the implementation.
“It’s likely they (the governors) have an understanding among themselves and the federal government to continue to delay this implementation. Relevant organs of our union will sit and decide on the next line of action and we cannot rule out mass protests,” he stated.
A lawyer and Deputy Director, Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), Kolawole Oluwadare, said the delay speaks to politicking that has defined several government actions. He said the Supreme Court ruling was very clear and the only reason it had not been enforced was because the federal government felt “it is not politically expedient to do so.”
“It would appear that over the years, and mostly in this administration, actions are taken for political reasons rather than for good governance. And that affects the outcome of such political actions taken by the government. After the Attorney General of the Federation went to court, the Supreme Court gave the judgement.
“The AGF knows what to do. So why hasn’t that been done? Are we saying those who are disobeying the implementation of the order of this judgement are more powerful than the federal government or the Attorney General of the Federation? I do not think so. If the judgement is yet to be enforced, it would be as a result of the same problem that mars the enforcement of judgements in Nigeria,” Oluwadare added.
Barrister Malachy Ugwumadu, a human rights lawyer and former president, Committee for the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR), said the beauty of the judgement had been compromised “in the womb of Nigerian politics,” blaming the delayed implementation on the pushback from the political class, especially state governors, and a lack of political will on the part of the federal government.
He said, “The ideal thing is what the Supreme Court has done: to give effect to a structured local government administration that will be relevant and impactful to the lives of the people of Nigeria at the local level. What we see is a pushback from a forum of governors who have become a behemoth, exercising political and economic powers in the sub-regional entities that they control.
“The federal government is complicit in the whole mess. The president of a country through the Attorney General of the Federation, who had the clarity of a mission, mobilised his resources and got the Supreme Court to take a position, should never have shied away from implementation. So they were mainly interested in cutting the tree, but less concerned about the direction of the fall. It appears that there are no strategies to enforce the Supreme Court judgement.”
Ugwumadu also questioned the CBN’s condition for opening accounts for local governments.
“To what extent have local government administrations in Nigeria, as defined by sub-national governments, been accountable to the people of their respective local government councils? If the verdict out there is that it is as though there are no local governments in Nigeria, your guess is as good as mine. Therefore, the federal government that had this wonderful initiative shouldn’t shy away at the point of implementing this resolution,” he stated.
The Executive Director, Centre for Anti-Corruption and Open Leadership (CACOL), Debo Adeniran, accused state governors of frustrating the implementation of the court ruling.
He also pointed out that bureaucracy had always been the bane of socio-political development in Nigeria and appealed to the federal government to follow through with the actualisation of local government autonomy without further delay.
“The governors are still dealing with whether to let go or not and they are putting immense pressure on the federal government because most of the time, they combine funds that belong to the local governments with the ones that belong to the states to implement their agenda, which does not translate to the needs of the people.
“They claim that they are more prudent than local government chairmen, which is not true. The state governments are just playing the game of an unnecessary interloper between the federal government and the local governments, making it difficult for local governments to serve the people. Most of the projects that are supposed to be carried out by local governments are being implemented by state governments. Anybody that is stopping local governments from accessing the funds should be punished and I believe it is the federal government that can step in and ensure implementation,” Adeniran said.
Mr Philip Jakpor, the Executive Director, Renevlyn Development Initiative (RDI), a non-governmental organisation that works with indigenous communities and grassroots groups to expose corperate impunity, said as the 2027 elections approach, political scheming at the federal and state levels would make it even more difficult for the ruling to be implemented.
“If after a year the autonomy has not been implemented despite much talk, nothing will make it happen when the election approaches. What will the current administration use to campaign in 2027 if they cannot pull through an issue as germane as this (LG autonomy) which borders on people at the grassroots and local development? It would mean that the whole idea was just a charade,” he said.
Governors deny complicity
However, the Director General of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), Dr. Lateef Shittu, absolved state governors of any complicity and referred our correspondent to the SGF-led committee for an update on the implementation process.
Also, in an interview with Channels TV on Tuesday, Katsina State Governor, Dikko Umar Rada, said he had no issue with restoring autonomy to local governments, but added that there must be checks and balances.
He said, “In Katsina, we are enjoying LG autonomy to some extent even without implementing that judgement. Every end of the month, we sit down with the chairmen; they bring their budgets and we give them the resources to implement those budgets. We monitor and ensure that they implement them. There is a check and balance, so there is nothing wrong with local government autonomy.
“I don’t have a problem with the local government autonomy, but we need to work on certain things: the payment of salaries of teachers, health workers, local government workers and payment of gratuity to pensioners. We need to work holistically on these to guarantee workers of their safety under autonomy. And there should be checks and balances from the Ministry of Local Government and the local government auditors to ensure that the money is being utilised properly. With that, we will have a better country and it will reduce a lot of hardship on the people.”
When contacted on the delayed enforcement, Kamarudeen Ogundele, the spokesperson for the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, directed Daily Trust to the office of the SGF.
The Director, Information and Public Relations at the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Segun Imohiosen, promised to get back to our correspondent with comments, but had yet to do so as of press time.
Masses bear the brunt
NULGE President, Kankara, said Nigerians at the lowest rung of society would continue to bear the consequences of having local governments tied to the apron strings of the states if the federal government failed to make the apex court ruling a reality.
“Local government autonomy is for the benefit of the masses, the rural communities. If we continue to allow the state governments to control resources made for local governments, the masses will continue to suffer. Primary school education, primary health care services, sanitation, and so many services under the purview of the local government councils will continue to suffer. The local government will not be able to render those services to the people,” he said.
Adeniran agreed, lamenting that people at the grassroots suffered the impact of poor inner roads and drainage channels, dilapidated primary schools and health centres, as well as poor refuse management, among others.
“States should allow local governments to do their work. They have their job, which they have not done. They have not taken care of secondary health care institutions. Instead of leaving primary health care to local governments, they focus on it because it is easier to manage.
“We should allow local government autonomy to work in Nigeria so that the people will not continue to suffer the jeopardy of intransigence of the state governments,” he added. (Daily trust)
