Monitor Govs, Track LG Funds, ALGON, NULGE Tell NFIU
The Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees and the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria have urged the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit to track council funds and prevent their diversion to state governors by council chairmen.
In the last few months, calls for local government autonomy have increased in Nigeria. Those calls had been supported by President Bola Tinubu and stakeholders. Currently, the Federal Government receives 52.68 per cent, states receive 26.72 per cent, and local governments receive 20.60 per cent of the country’s monthly revenue allocated by the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission, which is under the Presidency, and is disbursed by the Federation Account Allocation Committee.
In May, the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, instituted a suit against the 36 state governors on behalf of the Federal Government at the Supreme Court, seeking full autonomy for local governments. The suit, which was predicated on 27 grounds, contended that Nigeria as a federation s governed with the 1999 Constitution.
But the Attorneys-General of the 36 states filed an objection to the suit instituted by the Federal Government.
However, the Supreme Court declared on July 11, 2024, that it was unconstitutional for state governors to hold funds allocated for local government administrations. The seven-man panel, in the judgement delivered by Justice Emmanuel Agim, declared that the 774 local government councils in the country should manage their funds themselves.
The President of NULGE, Akeem Ambali, backed the Supreme Court’s verdict and cautioned against disobedience of the judgement.
The NULGE boss called for strict adherence to NFIU guidelines, adding that it would help prevent the diversion of funds.
Ambali noted that only those who had misappropriated these funds and those opposed to democratic principles would be discontented with the verdict, adding that Nigerians are happy with the landmark judgement of the Supreme Court.
He said, “The whole country is happy with the judgement of the Supreme Court. It is only looters of local government funds and unpatriotic people that will not be happy.
“What we have seen yesterday is constitutional democracy at play. Funds were appropriated and allocated to local governments. Why must it be hijacked along the line? That is why we have a high rate of poverty, frustration, insecurity, and joblessness across the country.
“We (NULGE) believe that once local government is free, council chairmen will be able to touch the lives of average workers and the masses, and change things for good. That’s our impression about it.”
While lamenting that local government funds had been illegally diverted and misused for years, he stressed that the judgement would help transform governance at the third tier of government.
“Ordinarily, the allocation for local governments has been cornered, diverted, and misapplied over time. What I believe is that once they have access to the allocation, they will be able to provide the infrastructure for the people. They will be able to provide responsive governance to their communities, and pay the minimum wage conveniently.
“We are aware that since the removal of fuel subsidy, local government allocation on the pages of paper has been increased by over 100 per cent by the state and federal governments. So, there is no fear about that.”
He also stressed that adherence to NFIU guidelines will prevent any diversion of funds to state governors by local government chairmen.
He said, “Whoever wants to tamper with the local government funds should be ready to go to jail. Governors are not only doing it because they have immunity, but because the money goes through them to the local governments. Now that the money is going directly to the local government account, no governor will ask the chairmen to rewire the money to them. Once they are aware of the NFIU guidelines, it will be difficult.”
Ambali further criticised the illegality of caretaker committees running local governments, adding that with the Supreme Court judgement, governors no longer have powers to dismiss democratically elected local officials.
He said, “Caretaker committees have been outlawed. The caretaker government in Nigeria is illegal, it has been condemned. Whoever practises it is at their peril. The Supreme Court, the biggest legal institution in Nigeria, the apex of the judicial system and adjudication has decided. So nobody will do anything and the implementation is with immediate effect. It has also empowered the Federal Government not to release allocation to the state to run caretaker or illegal governments that are not in conformity with the Nigerian constitution.
“What has been crippling political democracy and independence at the local government level is a result of tenure insecurity, because of the absolute power of governors to remove, sack, and suspend the democratically elected local government officials. So in Nigeria now, no governor has the power to remove, suspend, impeach or dissolve the democratically elected local government system.
“Once they have access to their funds, they are responsible to the people and their tenure has been secured. What is the fear again? And don’t forget that we have the Freedom of Information Bill that is operational now. We are in the era of social media and we have the empowerment of whistleblowers. And again, NULGE will not go back to sleep, we will be partnering with the anti-corruption agencies. So there is nothing to fear.
“To track the funds is easy. Already it is being tracked but the only thing is that what they are doing is to keep the funds in dark accounts whereby it will not be accessible. It is easy for the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit and anti-corruption agency to track funds that are paid to local government accounts through the central bank. And don’t forget that we have the legislative arm at the local government level empowered to carry out oversight functions on local government expenditures. We have also said that the Federal Account Allocation Committee must publish the daily monthly allocation to every local government. So with all these, there are in-built control mechanisms put in place. It is no longer business as usual like before.”
Also speaking, the National President of ALGON, Aminu Muazu-Maifata, said the association is happy and appreciates the verdict of the Supreme Court.
ALGON, he said, will meet next week to deliberate on the judgement, vowing that council chairmen will utilise this landmark verdict of the Supreme Court to transform governance at the grassroots and not disappoint Nigerians.
He said, “I assure Nigerians that we won’t disappoint them. We will meet their expectations. By next week, we will call a NEC meeting, which will be held between the 18th and 19th of this month. All the 36 state ALGON chairmen and the FCT chairman will be at the meeting. We will state our positions and expectations on this verdict. Before then, we might have gotten the full details of the judgement. That will give us a good opportunity to explain the verdict and come out with good positions.
“We know the mood of the masses and that of the majority of Nigerians on this issue. We will know how to persuade our principals on it. We are not going to face any challenge from the governors because of the way we are going to approach the whole issue and the way we are going to relate with them.”
Muazu-Maifata also noted that the council chairmen will use the opportunity of now having financial autonomy to address the lack of amenities at the grassroots.
“We will use the opportunity to address the lack of roads and basic amenities at the local government level. We need to put our house in order so that we can face the challenges and move our people forward to enjoy more dividends of democracy, especially security.
“In the next four years, the story would have changed for the local governments, most especially those states that are not enjoying liberty. I am sure the lawyers of the governors administering local government with caretaker committees will advise them. I am sure the governors will comply. They are leaders, so they will have to lead by example.”
