Following the recent Supreme Court ruling validating the sanctity of the principle of fiscal federalism in the country, the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON) on Sunday stated that it had directed all local governments in the country to open dedicated accounts with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
The National President of the association, Bello Yandaki, who gave this hint, explained that opening the dedicated accounts would facilitate the direct distribution of allocations from the Federation Account to the 774 local governments.
According to him, opening the accounts is essential for implementation of the apex court’s decision regarding direct fund allocations to the councils even as the CBN is is awaiting directive from the Federal Government regarding the processes of opening the accounts.
The ALGON President clarified: “The CBN is presently awaiting directives from the Federal Government to open local government accounts for the respective states, which can be done between 24 and 48 hours for each.
“I am a member of the sub-committee that was set up to trash out contentious grey areas, and we have already met relevant stakeholders, including labour unions, local government chairmen, NULGE, and so on.
“There is a general agreement that the commencement of direct federal revenue allocations to LGs will be this January.
“Hopefully, we are just rounding off meetings and making submissions to the Federal Government for implantation and there’s no set timeline”, Yandaki added.
It would be recalled that the Supreme Court, in the suit ‘Attorney General of the Federation and Attorney General of Abia State & 35 Others’ before it, gave a landmark ruling on July 11, 2024, granting financial autonomy to the 774 local councils.
The Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator George Akume, in August 2024 inaugurated an Inter-Ministerial Committee to study the ruling report and advice the government on how to ensure hitch-free enforcement.
