ABUJA – The Presidency has introduced that, efficient from the tip of January 2025, native authorities councils throughout the nation will obtain their allocations straight from the Federal Allocation Account Committee (FAAC).
The Particular Adviser to the President on Media and Public Communications, Sunday Dare, disclosed this improvement throughout an interview on Come up Information on Thursday night time.
Dare confirmed that President Bola Tinubu is dedicated to making sure native authorities autonomy, a transfer anticipated to strengthen governance on the grassroots stage.
The choice aligns with a landmark Supreme Courtroom ruling delivered on July 11, 2024, which declared the retention of native authorities funds by state governments unconstitutional.
Within the unanimous judgment, Justice Emmanuel Agbim emphasised that “calls for of justice require a progressive interpretation of the legislation.”
The court docket dominated that native authorities allocations needs to be paid straight from the federation account to the councils, as routing the funds by state governments had confirmed ineffective.
The ruling adopted a go well with filed by the Legal professional Normal of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), searching for full autonomy and direct funding for all 774 native authorities councils in Nigeria.
Regardless of the judgment, implementation confronted delays because the Federal Authorities labored to ascertain a framework for clean execution.
Dare, throughout the interview, highlighted the importance of the transfer and shared suggestions from native authorities officers.
“We now have a President who ensures native authorities autonomy. I spoke to an area authorities chairman who mentioned, ‘Oh, I shall be getting N2.9bn, as an alternative of the N200m I used to be getting earlier than.’ From the tip of this month, LG will obtain the cash straight,” he mentioned.
He additionally urged Nigerians to carry state and native governments accountable for the utilisation of public funds, citing situations of states receiving considerably elevated allocations with out corresponding enhancements in governance.
“One state final yr alone collected N499bn, nearly 4 occasions what it was amassing earlier than. Now, go to that state and see if there’s any enchancment. N499bn shouldn’t be a small amount of cash,” Dare famous.
He additional burdened the significance of monitoring how funds are spent in any respect ranges of presidency, noting that the Federal Authorities’s position in allocation doesn’t prolong to full duty for expenditures by states and native councils.
The transfer to implement direct fee of native authorities allocations is anticipated to reinforce transparency and accountability whereas empowering councils to handle urgent developmental challenges of their communities.
