The Supreme Court had in 2024 ruled that it was illegal to be channelling monies meant for local governments to the accounts of state governments.
However, since then, there has been no attempt to comply with the Supreme Court judgement.
The government had said it would begin implementing the judgement in January 2025 by directly crediting the accounts of local councils after the disbursement of funds to the three tiers of government by Federation Account Allocation Committee.
The FAAC has released N860.252 billion to the state governments for January, out of which N361.754 billion was for the local governments.
A source said that most of the local councils have not submitted their bank account details with the Central Bank of Nigeria, as such councils’ January allocation would be disbursed through the states.
He said: “The January allocation did not go to the local governments but to their state accounts.
“If they have started submitting their accounts, their February allocations will go to them.
“The January allocation has been paid to the state accounts already. That means they didn’t submit their details on time.
“If the councils can move fast and tidy up the loose ends early, they will get their funds directly from next month.
“That will signal the commencement of their autonomy as desired by the Bola Tinubu administration.’’
Another FAAC official said the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (OAGF) and other stakeholders were working hard to address the delays in fully complying with the apex court judgment.
He said: “I learnt the process of creating accounts is what is holding the process, but the Federal Government is determined to make sure that local government autonomy becomes a reality. I can assure you that things are moving in the right direction.’’
