Governors and local government chairmen have resorted to delay tactics and blame-game over the direct disbursement of funds from the federation account to the grassroots tier of government as directed by the Supreme Court.
There is also a conspiracy of silence on the issue by both the governors and the council chairmen.
Attempts by LEADERSHIP Sunday to get the update on the controversy trailing the federal government’s directive to the chairmen to open accounts with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to receive their allocations did not receive positive response from the two parties.
From the body language of the chairmen, it was clear that the governors may have censored the council bosses from speaking on the matter.
Those who volunteered to speak were more or less in the defence of the governors.
There have been media reports that the governors were lobbying President Bola Tinubu to allow the funds to be paid to commercial banks instead of the CBN preferred by the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation.
In response to our correspondents’ enquiries, some governors blamed the council chairmen for not complying with the order to open accounts with the CBN.
On their part, some LG chairmen said they were not aware of any directive to open accounts with either the CBN or commercial banks.
In an interview with LEADERSHIP Sunday in Katsina, the state president of the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE), Nasiru Wada Maiadua, said the real issue is not the channel through which funds are disbursed but the need for full autonomy for local governments.
Maiadua described the controversy over whether the federal government should send allocations through the CBN or commercial banks as misplaced.
He referenced a Supreme Court ruling that permits allocations to be sent through either channel, stressing that the real challenge is the lack of political and administrative autonomy at the local government level.
“I don’t see anything wrong with where the federal government sends the allocation to. The Supreme Court ruled that it can be sent to any bank – CBN or commercial banks,” he said.
He argued that state governors’ alleged interference is rooted in the absence of full autonomy, not the choice of banks.
“If the federal government truly wants local government autonomy, the focus shouldn’t be on the channel of disbursement but on granting full political and administrative independence. Without that, governors will continue to control funds, as they often influence the election of local government chairmen,” he added.
Maiadua called on the federal government to ensure comprehensive autonomy for local governments, not just financial independence, to guarantee genuine grassroots development and prevent undue interference from state governments.
The national president of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON), Bello Lawal Yandaki, could not be reached as he was reportedly out of the country for Hajj in Saudi Arabia.
Similarly, the state government did not respond to enquiries through the director-general of media to the governor, Maiwada Danmalam.
In Nasarawa State, Governor Abdullahi Sule has reportedly expressed worries over the delay in the opening of accounts by the councils with the apex bank.
He said the issue is needlessly dragging for long thereby affecting salary payment to council workers in the state.
LEADERSHIP Sunday reports that the 13 local government areas of the state had to fall back on their accrued savings to pay their February salaries.
An aide to the governor quoted him as saying that it was unfortunate that account opening which is supposed to be a seamless process has been dragging for long with parties giving different accounts of the circumstances surrounding the issue.
He said, “It looks like it is going to be a long haul because, according to the local government chairmen and the ministry, when they approach the CBN in Lafia to open accounts, the CBN would say they are yet to receive directives from their headquarters to allow them open the accounts. But Abuja (CBN headquarters) would say they are still waiting for the accounts.
“There is something that is missing somewhere and we are working on it to make sure that the problem is resolved.”
In Niger State, the government said it is not averse to any of the plans to ensure the autonomy of the councils but claimed that there was no clear template on the implementation.
Whereas the state ALGON chairman and chairman of Agwara local government area, Hon Iliyasu Zakeri said the mandate of his members is to abide by the constitution and law, the state commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs said the state has no role or workplan on the opening of accounts for local government autonomy.
Zakeri said, “The local government in Niger State will always be run based on the laws and provisions of the constitution, for us we have had our autonomy.”
The commissioner said such plans of forcing the councils to open accounts or not are a fallacy even as he said the state did not receive any template on the implementation of the local government autonomy.
He said the government however noticed the concerns of the people on the funding of statutory organs like the Universal Basic Education, Local Government Service Commission and other existing joint local government programmes and projects.
The chairman of Toro local government area of Bauchi State, Ibrahim Dembo, said he was not aware of any directive to open an account with the CBN preparatory to receiving the council’s monthly allocation directly.
Dembo, in a telephone interview with our correspondent, said he has not received a directive to open a bank account with either the CBN or commercial banks to facilitate fiscal autonomy of the council.
“I am not in a position to speak about this. I have not received a directive to open any account,” he said.
However, the commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Isa Tilde, explained that the delay being experienced in paying local government workers their February salaries was as a result of modalities introduced by the CBN in disbursement of LG funds.
He, however, did not explicitly state Bauchi Government’s preference or rejection of LGs from the state to open accounts with the CBN or commercial banks to enable them receive the allocation directly.
He said the authorities in the state await CBN to complete the reform to send money directly to local governments.
When contacted, the chairman of Onicha local government area of Ebonyi State, Mr Ikechukwu Ogbuofia said they, through ALGON, were discussing with the state government to ensure that everything required was achieved to ensure that the state complies with the CBN directive.
The commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters, Mr Uchenna Igwe, said all modalities were being put in place to comply with the order, adding that the state would not be the last to implement what was required.
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