For January, the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) of the federal government has disbursed N860.252 billion to state governments; of this amount, N361.754 billion is anticipated to be distributed to local governments.
Because they couldn’t fulfill the deadline for submitting account data, the councils won’t get their allocations directly.
While the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) and Primary Health Center (PHC) will get direct cash from the Federation Account, the councils’ January monies will be distributed through the states, according to an FAAC official.
Because the councils did not fulfill the administrative conditions for the disbursement of cash, the commission shifted the January allocations to state governments, the FAAC spokesman clarified.
According to him, the January allotment was transferred to the state funds rather than the local governments.
Their February allotment will be given to them if they have begun turning in their accounts.
The allocation for January has already been credited to the state accounts. This indicates that their information was not submitted on time.
“The councils will receive their money straight from next month if they can act quickly and straighten off any loose ends beforehand.
As the Bola Tinubu administration has intended, that will mark the beginning of their autonomy.
I discovered that the procedure of opening accounts is what is preventing the process from moving forward, but the federal government is committed to ensuring that local government autonomy is realized. “I’m confident that we’re headed in the right direction,” stated another FAAC official.
This comes after the Supreme Court ruled in July 2024 that local government councils should receive their funding from the Federation Account directly, without going via state governments, giving them financial autonomy.
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The Federal Government ordered all local governments to register special bank accounts with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in order to carry out the ruling. These accounts would be used to transfer monthly allocations directly to the CBN.
The continuing budget defense and other urgent engagements involving important government officials, however, are thought to have slowed down the process.
