The challenges facing the implementation of the Supreme Court judgment on local government autonomy have assumed a new dimension, with some state governors explicitly warning their council chairmen against opening account with the Central Bank of Nigeria for the direct payment of their allocations from the Federation Account.
The latest development represents yet another significant hurdle, nearly nine months after the Supreme Court granted full autonomy to the 774 local governments across the country, paving the way for direct payment of federal allocations.
As part of the Federal Government’s commitment to the Supreme Court judgment, a panel was set up to ensure the implementation of LG autonomy.
In line with its recommendation, the panel directed the Central Bank of Nigeria to open accounts for the 774 LGs for direct payment of their allocation.
This process has, however, faced delays with the CBN and LGs trading accusations.
The immediate-past Account-General of the Federation, Oluwatoyin Madein and the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, and other officials recently commenced talks on the modalities for the LGAs to open accounts with the CBN for direct allocation but are reportedly facing challenges identifying LGAs with democratically elected officials.
A Federation Account Allocation Committee Technical Sub-Committee meeting revealed that only Delta State LGAs had submitted their account details.
Amid the controversy, fresh investigations by The PUNCH revealed that some governors have resorted to intimidation and coercion, pressuring their local government chairmen to refrain from opening the designated accounts for direct allocation payment.
Several local government chairmen said their respective governors have instructed them not to open accounts with the CBN for the direct receipt of their allocations.
One chairman revealed that a governor in the South-East region refused to accept 50 percent of the monthly allocations, which was part of the agreement intended to facilitate the opening of the accounts for direct payment.
“Our governor has threatened us (all the chairmen in the state) not to open accounts with the CBN for the direct payment of our allocation”, one of the chairmen of South-East states, who pleaded anonymity, told one of our correspondents.
“We even tried to beg him, seeking to strike a deal, such that if he allows us to open the account with the CBN and our allocations are paid directly, we will remit 50 per cent of the LG allocation to him monthly, but he disagreed. So, this is where we are for now,” the LG chair added.
Further investigations reveal that a significant number of governors are strongly opposed to the opening of CBN accounts, fearing it would sever their long-standing access to local government funds.
However, a negligible number of governors are said to be disposed to the idea of their LGAs opening the CBN accounts.
The PUNCH had reported how some governors met with President Bola Tinubu recently and said they preferred the LGs to open accounts with commercial banks instead of the CBN.
It is unclear if the President is positively disposed to the idea.
Meanwhile, another LG chair explained that the CBN’s stringent conditions might be one of the reasons the governors were not positively disposed to the idea, aside from the fact that it will cut off their access to LG funds.
A chairman in one of the local government areas in South-West disclosed that the council chairmen in the state have not opened accounts with CBN due to the stringent conditions set by the apex bank.
The chairman said one of the stringent demands is the submission of a two-month statement of account from each local government area, which was not available.
“But as simple as that condition may look, all council areas here in our state can’t meet up. The situation is not peculiar to our state. If you check well, most states can’t meet up simply because their governors are the ones spending their allocation.
“They are only giving those in LGAs whatever they feel like giving them. That is the problem,” the LG boss said.
Other local governments have cited various reasons for the delay in opening CBN accounts. One council chairman in Benue State, who spoke to our correspondent on the condition of anonymity, alleged that certain parties are working together to hinder the process.
He said, “Chairmen across the country are aware that state governors are trying to frustrate the financial autonomy of local government areas. What they are pushing for is for council chairmen to open their accounts in commercial banks where they can easily have access to control the councils’ money.
“They know that the moment the money is paid to CBN, it will go directly to us, and they will not have access to it. So, that is the reason the governors are frustrating the move.”
